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? asked in Science & MathematicsChemistry · 1 decade ago

Ozone resonance question?

Why is it that Ozone has to have one single bond and one double? I got a different structure in which the three atoms are arranged in a triangular shape with one bond connecting each to the other. This satisfies their valencies and removes the charge that would arise in case of resonance. Unless it's necessary that one sigma and one pi-bond have to present or sumthin? idk...this has bn buggin me since my school days n i never quite figured it out

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  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago
    Favorite Answer

    I'd submit it was "Pauli Exclusion Principle". There'd be no way you could have 6 different bonds with the three oxygens.

    As you get the pressures over thousands of atmospheres, O8 becomes preferred and stable (a superconductive metal). That would be pretty much a nightmare.

  • 1 decade ago

    Having the single and double bond puts much less strain on the molecule than having it in a triangular shape. Ring strain is a source of reactivity, and if ozone adopted that conformation, the strain would be so high that the molecule would be very unstable. The resonance single/double bond is also not the most stable configuration, but it is much more energy efficient.

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