Knowra Bond order Bond order Bond order measures the effective number of bonding interactions between two atoms. In molecular orbital theory, it is half the difference between electrons in bonding and antibonding orbitals.
Molecular orbital theory : A model of chemical bonding in which electrons occupy orbitals extending over whole molecules. Its bonding-minus-antibonding electron count gives the standard molecular definition of bond order.
Chemical bond : An attractive interaction that holds atoms or ions together in a substance. Bond order quantifies bonding interactions within this broader idea.
Diatomic molecule : A molecule consisting of two atoms, which may be identical or different. Diatomic species make molecular-orbital bond-order calculations especially direct.
Bond multiplicity : The classification of a covalent bond as single, double, or triple according to shared electron pairs. Multiplicity is an integer label, while calculated bond order can be fractional.
Bonding orbital : A molecular orbital whose electron occupancy lowers the energy of a molecule relative to separated atoms. Electrons in these orbitals increase bond order.
Valence bond theory : A bonding model that describes molecules using localized bonds formed by overlap of atomic orbitals. It often assigns integer bond orders through localized single, double, and triple bonds.
Oxygen molecule : The diatomic molecule O₂, whose ground state contains two unpaired electrons in antibonding orbitals. Its bond order of two follows from its molecular-orbital electron configuration.
Bond valence : A quantity used in crystal chemistry to relate bond lengths to contributions toward an atom's valence. Despite similar terminology, bond valence is not the molecular-orbital electron-count measure.
Antibonding orbital : A molecular orbital whose electron occupancy raises the energy of a molecule relative to separated atoms. Electrons in these orbitals decrease bond order.
Lewis structure : A diagram showing atoms, valence electrons, and bonds in a molecule or ion. Counting shared electron pairs in a Lewis structure gives a simple bond-order assignment.
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