Question

In the case of ionic bonding, the molecule is stable as long as the number of bonding electrons is 
1. Equal to the number of antibonding electrons
2. Less than the number of antibonding electrons
3. Greater than the number of antibonding electrons
4. Equal to the number of antibonding neutrons 

Answer 1

Correct Answer - Option 3 : Greater than the number of antibonding electrons

Concept:

Bond factor (BF) is defined as:

BF= \(\frac{1}{2}\) ( Bonding electrons in the molecule – antibonding electrons in the molecule)

Observations:

When the bond factor is “zero”, the molecule is highly unstable. Hence the bond factor must be greater than zero.

Based on this, if the bond factor is assumed as 1, i.e.

1 = \(\frac{1}{2}\) ( Bonding electrons in the molecule – anti-bonding electrons in the molecule)

 2 = Bonding electrons in the molecule – antibonding electrons in the molecule
 Bonding electrons in the molecule = 2 + antinbonding electrons in the molecule