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What is the Lewis structure of an oxygen molecule [tex]$\left( O_2 \right)$[/tex]?

A.
B. [tex]$\ddot{O}=O$[/tex]
C.
D.


Sagot :

Sure, let's go through the steps to determine the Lewis structure of an oxygen molecule ([tex]$O_2$[/tex]).

### 1. Count the Total Number of Valence Electrons
Each oxygen atom has 6 valence electrons since it is in group 16 of the periodic table. Therefore, the total number of valence electrons for [tex]$O_{2}$[/tex] is:
[tex]$ 6 \text{ (valence electrons per oxygen)} \times 2 \text{ (oxygen atoms)} = 12 \text{ valence electrons} $[/tex]

### 2. Determine the Central Atom
In diatomic molecules like [tex]$O_2$[/tex], there is no central atom. The two oxygen atoms are bonded directly to each other.

### 3. Place Electrons Around the Atoms to Satisfy the Octet Rule
We start by placing a single bond (two electrons) between the two oxygen atoms.

### 4. Distribute Remaining Electrons to Fulfill the Octet Rule
We initially placed 2 electrons (single bond). Now we have:
[tex]$ 12 - 2 = 10 \text{ valence electrons left} $[/tex]
Next, we place electrons around each oxygen atom to fulfill the octet rule (8 electrons around each atom). Starting with the remaining 10 electrons:

- Add the remaining 10 electrons to the oxygens, trying to fulfill the octet rule:

Add three lone pairs (6 electrons) to each oxygen. Each pair is a set of two electrons.

So now each oxygen has 6 non-bonding electrons (three lone pairs), and we used up all 12 valence electrons. However, this situation would look like this:

```
O: :O

where each " : " represents a lone pair (a set of two electrons).

This would not fulfill the octet rule for each oxygen atom as each would still need more electrons to complete 8.

### 5. Correct the Lewis Structure Through Bonding Adjustments
We can introduce double bonding or triple bonds to satisfy the octet rule:

- We know each oxygen needs 8 valence electrons (including bonding and lone pairs).

We try with double bonding first. So let’s form a double bond between the two oxygen atoms.

### Double Bond Adjustment:
Place a double bond (4 electrons) between the two oxygens:

- We initially placed the single bond (2 electrons) and now add another bond (2 more electrons):
[tex]$ 12 - 4 = 8 \text{ valence electrons left} $[/tex]

Each oxygen atom now:
- Shares 4 electrons (2 shared pairs) and
- Each still needs 4 more electrons to complete their octet.

So we distribute the remaining 8 electrons (4 lone pairs):

Oxygen on the left and Oxygen on the right each get 2 lone pairs (4 electrons each):

##

So the structure now is :

```
..
O=O
..
```

Each line ( = ) represents shared pair of bonding electrons and there are two lone pairs ( .. ) on each oxygen atom which sums up electrons as required:

Each oxygen has 4 bonding electrons and 4 lone electrons summing to 8 around each fulfilling the octet rule.


## Final Lewis Structure:
We finalize this Lewis structure of Oxygen molecule:

The correct Lewis structure of [tex]$O_2$[/tex] is structure B:

```
..
Ö=Ö
..
```

Summary:
-B.
Therefore, the correct Lewis structure corresponds to Option B:
```
Ö = Ö
```

Here, the dashes indicate bonding electrons and the dots represent lone pairs on each atom. This structure satisfies the octet rule and represents the bonding between two oxygen atoms accurately.