The bond order of HF (hydrogen fluoride) is 1.
To explain further, bond order is calculated as the difference between the number of bonding electrons and the number of antibonding electrons, divided by two. In HF, the hydrogen atom shares one electron with the fluorine atom, which has seven valence electrons. This sharing creates a single bond between them. Thus, the bond order can be calculated as:
- Number of bonding electrons = 2 (one pair)
- Number of antibonding electrons = 0
Using the formula:
Bond order = (Number of bonding electrons – Number of antibonding electrons) / 2
We get:
Bond order = (2 – 0) / 2 = 1
Therefore, the bond order for HF is 1, indicating a single covalent bond between hydrogen and fluorine.