Question

Arrange the following in order of decreasing C-O bond strength. Strongest First Weakest Last.
(CO3)2-, CH3OH, CO, (HCO2)-

Answer 1

You have to compare bond strengths of Carbon to other elements. Do you have chemistry booklet to check them? If not, you can search for 2015 Chemistry A-level syllabus on google.

Answer 2

I just had this on a test. Do you know how to draw lewis structures? That is the easiest way to see how strong a bond is. A triple bond is >a double bond> a single bond. :)

Answer 3

@Shaekitchen Lewis \(Structures\) : http://www.chem.ucalgary.ca/courses/351/Carey5th/Ch01/ch1-3depth.html

When we consider a bond between two atoms, the type of bond gives a relative measure of the bond length.

Triple Bond Strongest, 3 electron pairs shared, shortest bond
Double Bond Middle, 2 electron pairs shared
Single Bond Weakest, 1 electron pair shared, longest bond

Example: [CO3]2- When we draw the lewis structure for this ion, we get a double bond between one oxygen and the carbon, with single bonds between the other two oxygen atoms and the carbon. Because each of the oxygens want a double bond to the carbon, they all fight over it (giving resonance structures), meaning that in the end, you get a bond something between a double and a single bond for each Carbon-Oxygen bond. Therefore, this bond will be longer than a single bond, but shorter than a double bond.


CO2 This lewis structure gives one double bond between each oxygen and the carbon:


and so on..