Q.Explain the bond formation in ethylene and acetylene.
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Start your 14-day free trial to unlock the full solution →Step 1. Ethylene, C₂H₄. Each carbon's ground-state configuration ([He]2s²2px¹2py¹) is promoted to 2s¹2px¹2py¹2pz¹, then each carbon undergoes sp² hybridisation, mixing only 2s, 2px and 2py into three coplanar sp² orbitals (120° apart) — the 2pz orbital is left UNhybridised, standing perpendicular to that plane.
Step 2. One sp² orbital from each carbon, lying along the molecular axis, overlaps head-on with the other, forming a C-C σ bond; the other two sp² orbitals on each carbon overlap with hydrogen 1s orbitals, giving two C-H σ bonds per carbon (four total).
Step 3. The two leftover, unhybridised 2pz orbitals (one per carbon), both perpendicular to the molecular plane, overlap SIDEWAYS to form a C-C π bond.
Step 4. Together, the C-C σ bond plus this one C-C π bond give ethylene's planar C=C double bond.
Step 5. Acetylene, C₂H₂. Each carbon's configuration is likewise promoted to 2s¹2px¹2py¹2pz¹, but here each carbon undergoes sp hybridisation, mixing only 2s and 2px into TWO collinear sp orbitals along the molecular axis — BOTH 2py and 2pz are left unhybridised, perpendicular to the axis (and to each other). …
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