Question

How many sigma (σ) bonds and pi (π) bonds are in formaldehyde, `H_2CO`?

Answer 1

`3sigma+1pi`

Explanation:

`H_2CO` is the chemical formaldehyde, with the structure shown below

A `sigma`-bond is a single covalent bond between two atoms, and a `pi`-bond is any bond on top of that.

Here, for example, there are `2` single covalent bonds between carbon and hydrogen, which means `2sigma`, plus a double bond with carbon and oxygen.

A double bond is equal to `1sigma+1pi`, because there is one main bond with another on top of that, making two bonds in total.

Putting this all together,

`2sigma+(1sigma+1pi)=3sigma+1pi`