
Tables of bond lengths determined by X-ray and neutron diffraction. If it seems contradictory that the bond is both stronger and yet more easily broken, remember that bond energies measure homolytic cleavage ( See article: Bond Energies Measure Homolytic Cleavage) (Advanced) References And Further Reading This is also why the protons in acetylene are more acidic than those in ethene and ethane – the electrons in the conjugate base are more tightly held, making them more stable. Bond Hybridization Practice (MOC Membership).Orbital Hybridization And Bond Strengths.
#Pi bonds vs sigma bonds how to#

Since carbon can exist in one of these three hybridization states, we can therefore have six varieties of carbon-carbon sigma bonds: Those orbitals will be some combination of s orbitals and p orbitals. Sigma bonds are created from the head-on overlap of orbitals. It is these hybrid orbitals that form sigma bonds (σ bonds).

The “flavor” of each bond depends on the relative proportions of s orbital and p orbital content: If you draw an analogy to how we could make a “hybrid” soft drink by mixing different proportions of Sprite and Pepsi, these new orbitals aren’t fully s or fully p, but are a combination of both. What’s observed from analyzing the structure of molecules such as CH 4 is that the shapes cannot result from the electrons being in s or p orbitals alone, but instead are a consequence of the electrons in s and p orbitals mixing to form hybrid orbitals. Hybridization is a concept that we address here. The p orbitals therefore fill with electrons only after the s orbitals are filled. The electrons in p orbitals are slightly farther away from the nucleus than those in s orbitals, so they are a little bit higher in energy. P orbitals are shaped like figure-eights, or loops. The electrons of hydrogen, for instance, are in a 1s orbital.

S orbitals should be familiar as the spherical-shaped orbitals. You may recall from Gen chem (and no doubt your first week of o-chem as well), that orbitals on carbon come in two flavors: s and p.
