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.

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