Bond Lengths
Comparing the two contributing structures of benzene, all single and double bonds are interchanged. Bond lengths can be measured, for example using X-ray diffraction. The average length of a C-C single bond is 154 pm; that of a C=C double bond is 133 pm. In localized cyclohexatriene, the carbon-carbon bonds should be alternating 154 and 133 pm. Instead, all carbon-carbon bonds in benzene are found to be about 139 pm, a bond length intermediate between single and double bond. This mixed single and double bond (or triple bond) character is typical for all molecules in which bonds have a different bond order in different contributing structures.
Read more about this topic: Resonance (chemistry)
Famous quotes containing the words bond and/or lengths:
“Camillo. Prosperity’s the very bond of love,
Whose fresh complexion and whose heart together
Affliction alters.
Perdita. One of these is true:
I think affliction may subdue the cheek,
But not take in the mind.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“The minister’s wife looked out of the window at that moment, and seeing a man who was not sure that the Pope was Antichrist, emptied over his head a pot full of..., which shows to what lengths ladies are driven by religious zeal.”
—Voltaire [François Marie Arouet] (1694–1778)