Ozone, O3, plays a dual role in Earth’s atmosphere by filtering ultraviolet radiation while also acting as a pollutant in the troposphere.
(a) Draw all complete Lewis structures for O3 that obey the octet rule.
(b) Determine the formal charge on each atom for every structure you drew in part (a).
(c) Using your structures, state the average O–O bond order predicted for O3.
(d) The experimental O–O bond length in O3 is 128 pm. Compare this value with typical O–O single (148 pm) and O=O double (121 pm) bond lengths, and explain the observed length in terms of the bond order obtained in part (c).