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

1 Answer
anor277
Nov 16, 2016

#"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.

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