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QUESTION

# How many pi bonds are there in "CO"_2?

CO_2 has 2 .

First, start with the molecule's , which allows you to determine the of each atom.

We can see that C has two regions of electron around it, which means it has a steric number equal to 2. This implies that it is sp hybridized, therefore has 2 unhybridized p-orbitals with which it can form with the oxygen atoms.

On the other hand, each O atom has three regions of electron density around it, which means it is sp^2 hybridized. This allows each O atoms to have 1 unhybridized p-orbital with which to form a pi bond.

The in the CO_2 molecule looks like this:

C's sp hybridized orbitals are shown in yellow and its two unhybridized p-orbitals are shown in blue. O's sp^2 hybridized orbitals are shown in green, while its remaining unhybridized p-orbital is shown in blue.

So, C uses its two sp hybridized orbitals to form with the two O atoms (each O atom uses an sp^2 orbital for this).

Let's say C has its p_z and p_x orbitals left unhybridized. Its p_x orbital will form a with the O atom that has its p_x orbital unhybridized, while its p_z orbital will for a with the other O atom's p_z orbital.

Therefore, CO_2 has 2 pi bonds and 2 .

A faster way to determine how many pi bonds the molecule has is to know that a double bond is comprised of 1 sigma and 1 pi bond. Since CO_2 has 2 double bonds, it will have 2 pi bonds.

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