Bond Length

Bond length is the distance between the nuclei of two covalently bonded atoms. For a covalent molecule A-B, the bond length equals the sum of the (covalent/bonded) radii of the two bonded atoms, $r_A + r_B$ (Fig 10.13). Bond length can be measured experimentally by spectroscopic techniques, X-ray diffraction, and electron diffraction.

Bond length depends on two things:

• The size of the bonded atoms. The larger the atoms, the greater the bond length -- for example, the carbon-carbon single-bond length (1.54 Å) is longer than the carbon-nitrogen single-bond length (1.43 Å), since carbon is slightly larger than nitrogen. …