In: Chemistry
Why is the bond between 2 oxygen atoms stronger than the bond between 2 fluorine atoms?
The F2 molecule is exactly one bond (in other words, a bond order of 1) provided by one p electron per atom
The covalent radius of fluorine of about 71 picometers found in F2 molecules is significantly larger than that in other compounds because of this weak bonding between the two fluorine atoms.This is a result of the relatively large electron and internuclear repulsions, combined with a relatively small overlap of bonding orbitals arising due to the small size of the atoms.
But O2 has a bond length of 121 pm and a bond energy of 498 kJ·mol−1. An oxygen atom has 6 electrons in its outer shell. Two oxygen atoms will each share two electrons to form two covalent bonds and make an oxygen molecule (O2). because 2 covalent bonds it is very stronger.