The number of nonbonding electron pairs in `O_2`molecule is

Options

A. 2
B. 6
C. 4
D. 8

Answer

To determine the number of nonbonding electron pairs in the O2 molecule, we can follow these steps:

### Step 1: Determine the total number of valence electrons in O2
Oxygen (O) has 6 valence electrons, and since there are two oxygen atoms in O2, we calculate:
\[ \text{Total valence electrons} = 6 \text{ (from one O)} \times 2 = 12 \text{ electrons} \]

### Step 2: Write the Lewis structure for O2
In the Lewis structure, we need to arrange the electrons to satisfy the octet rule for both oxygen atoms. The two oxygen atoms will share two pairs of electrons (forming a double bond) and will have two lone pairs each.

### Step 3: Count the bonding and nonbonding electron pairs
- **Bonding pairs**: The double bond between the two oxygen atoms consists of 2 pairs of electrons (4 electrons).
- **Nonbonding pairs**: Each oxygen atom has 2 lone pairs (4 electrons) that are not involved in bonding.

### Step 4: Calculate the number of nonbonding electron pairs
Since each oxygen atom has 2 lone pairs, we have:
\[ \text{Total nonbonding electron pairs} = 2 \text{ (from one O)} + 2 \text{ (from the other O)} = 4 \text{ nonbonding electrons} \]
This corresponds to 2 nonbonding electron pairs (since each pair consists of 2 electrons).

### Final Answer:
The number of nonbonding electron pairs in the O2 molecule is **2**.

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