The bond strength is expressed as directly proportional to the bond order. This means that as the bond order increases, the bond strength also increases. In other words, a higher bond order signifies more shared electron pairs between two atoms, which leads to a stronger electrostatic attraction and therefore a stronger bond. To summarize:
- Bond order is the number of chemical bonds between a pair of atoms (e.g., single bond = 1, double bond = 2, triple bond = 3).
- Bond strength refers to the energy required to break the bond.
- The relationship can be expressed as:
Bond Strength∝Bond Order\text{Bond Strength}\propto \text{Bond Order}Bond Strength∝Bond Order
- A higher bond order means a stronger, more stable bond and requires more energy to break.
- Bond length is inversely proportional to bond order—higher bond order results in shorter bonds, which are stronger.
Thus, bond strength increases as bond order increases because more electron pairs are shared between atoms, leading to stronger bonds.