Lesson Plan: © 2003 Ministry of Education Malaysia. All Rights Reserved
Lesson Plan: © 2003 Ministry of Education Malaysia. All Rights Reserved
Aim: To investigate bond length, bond energy and the Lewis structures of polyatomic ions
Learning Outcomes :
Underlying Principles
Differentiation
Questions in the student notes are designed to enable all students to complete the activity. The pop-up
answers are provided for the students to view when they have considered their responses. Worksheet
questions include questions that require recall, understanding and application of the new concepts learned.
1.1 Water has a higher bond energy. The H-O bond length in water is shorter than the H-N bond length in
ammonia. The bond energy is inversely proportional to the bond length.
1.2 The C-C bond length in ethane (H3C-CH3) is longer than the C-C bond length in ethene (H2C - - CH2).
This is because it is a single bond ( bond) whereas in ethene, the C-C bond is a double bond ( and
bonds).
There is an unpaired electron on N. Thus, two molecules of nitrogen dioxide dimerise by pairing
the unpaired electrons.
c. The Lewis structure of nitrogen dioxide may be represented as two canonical structures.
Each resonance structure shows N-O single bond (bond order = 1) and N - O double bond (bond
order = 2). The actual structure is a resonance hybrid of the two resonance structures
( N-O bond order = 1.5).
There is resonance in the molecule. The bond order is 1.5, which is the same as for NO2.
3. Polyatomic ions
3.2 The three C-O bonds in CO32- ion are of equal length and strength because of resonance. There are
three resonance structures.
The three resonance structures contribute equally to the actual Lewis structure of the ion.