Complete the account of what the ozone bond lengths tell us.
Both bonds in ozone measure 128 pm, which lies ______ a single bond (148 pm) and a double bond (121 pm). Because the two bonds are ______, no drawing with one of each can be literally true: the real molecule is a single ______ rather than a structure that ______ between two forms.
Word bank: between · identical · resonance hybrid · alternates · shorter than
Hints
- Start by comparing 128 pm with the two reference lengths.
- If the molecule flickered between forms, the two bonds would still have to differ at any instant.
Show the answer
Both bonds in ozone measure 128 pm, which lies between a single bond (148 pm) and a double bond (121 pm). Because the two bonds are identical, no drawing with one of each can be literally true: the real molecule is a single resonance hybrid rather than a structure that alternates between two forms.
The measured length sits between the single and double values, and crucially the two bonds are identical. A molecule alternating between drawings would still have one long and one short bond at every instant, so the truth is one averaged hybrid that whole-number bond notation simply cannot express.
Practise Lewis Structures, Formal Charge and Resonance
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