According to molecular orbital theory, the total number of bonding electron pairs in `O_2`, is

Options

A. 2
B. 3
C. 5
D. 4

Answer

( c)

Explanation

According to molecular orbital theory, the electronic configuration of `O_(2)` is:
`sigma1s^(2)`,`overset(**)sigma 1s^(2)`,`overset(**)sigma 2s^(2)``sigma 2s^(2)`
`sigma 2p_(z)^(2)`,`pi2p_(x)^(2) approx pi2p_(y)^(2)`,`overset(**)pi2p_(s)^(1)`
(starred `sigma` and `pi` represent non bonding orbitals)
therefore.Number of bonding electron pairs = 5.