Question

in words, the expression means: oxygen is more electronegative than nitrogen, which is more electronegative than carbon, which has about the same electronegativity as hydrogen. these relationships turn out to be enormously important. to understand why its helpful to think of a bond on by denoting the shared electrons in covalent bonds as dots. for example, the two shared electrons in a covalent bond between two carbon atoms would be shared equally since each carbon atom has the same electronegativity. you would draw them like so: c—:—c but when a covalent bond forms between an oxygen (o) atom and a carbon (c) atom, oxygens high electronegativity will pull the shared electrons toward it and away from carbon. based on this information, which figure most accurately represents a covalent bond between carbon and oxygen? o—:c o:—c o—:—c

Explanation:

Oxygen is more electronegative than carbon. In a covalent bond between oxygen and carbon, the shared - electrons will be pulled closer to the oxygen atom due to oxygen's higher electronegativity. This means the electron - density will be greater around oxygen. In the Lewis - structure representation of a covalent bond between oxygen and carbon, the arrow (or the direction of the shared electrons) should point towards oxygen.

Answer:

O:——C