Question

An oxygen molecule contains a double bond because the two atoms of oxygen share a total of how many electrons?

Answer 1

`"A total of FOUR electrons......."`

Explanation:

A covalent bond is conceived to result from the sharing of two electrons between 2 positively charged atomic nuclei. A `sigma` bond results where the electron density is precisely between the nuclei. Where the electrons occupy a plane above and below the atom-atom vector, a `pi` bond results.

If we look at the electron distribution in the dioxygen molecule, each oxygen contributes 2 electrons to the double bond between the oxygen atoms. The remaining 4 valence electrons around each oxygen are conceived to lie in lone pairs.