Why is ethylene planar?

1 Answer
Bio
Oct 8, 2016

There is no rotation about the axis joining the 2 carbon atoms, therefore ethylene is a planar molecule.

Explanation:

The diagram below shows the bonding of ethylene molecule.

wps.prenhall.com/wps/media/objects/3311/3391094/imag0906/AAAVJKW0.JPG

The #p#-orbitals are perpendicular to the plane. All the rest of the #sigma# bonds are on the plane.

The molecule cannot be twisted without breaking the #pi# bond, as the #p#-orbital needs to remain parallel with each other.

Related questions
See all questions in Definition of 'Chemistry' and 'Organic'
Impact of this question
7468 views around the world
You can reuse this answer
Creative Commons License