Why is 02 a double bond?

1 Answer
Stephen G.
Nov 29, 2016

It has to be for each oxygen atom to satisfy the octet rule.

Explanation:

The diatomic oxygen molecule contains a total of 12 valence electrons, spread amongst two atoms. Each oxygen atom needs to have 8 surrounding it, so it can satisfy the octet rule. As a result, it needs to share two pair with the other oxygen atom. To avoid having a double bond, it would need 14.

enter image source here
Image courtesy of Wolfram Alpha

Related questions
See all questions in Organization of the Human Body
Impact of this question
7928 views around the world
You can reuse this answer
Creative Commons License