Covalent bond strengths

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Why is the bond between C-O stronger than the bond between C-H?

[DBA-144]

Why is the bond between C-O stronger than the bond between C-H?

I'd encourage you to have a go, but my understanding is that the oxygen atom pulls the electrons a lot more strongly than the Hydrogen atom does and so the oxygen atoms attracts the carbon more strongly than the hydrogen does (the oxygen wants the electrons of the carbon). So, the c-o bond is stronger. This my understanding, might be wrong.

[sweetiepi]

Why is the bond between C-O stronger than the bond between C-H?

Hey there!
As DBA already mentioned, try to have a go yourself, however I'll give you a tip: look at the difference in electronegativities for each bond pair.

[lzxnl]

Reasons to explore:

1. Bond polarity; as mentioned, the C-O is more polarised than the C-H bond, so there is an electrostatic interaction
2. Core charge; oxygen has eight protons and two inner shell electrons. That means the remaining six protons are essentially free to attract any valence electrons in bonds, which increases any bond strengths. Compare with hydrogen's one proton.

Also, there's another issue. When we talk about bond strength, we normally talk about the energy required to break a bond. That means the energy difference between a C-H bond and C, H atoms, for instance. The bond strengths, therefore, are not compared to a common reference point.

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I'd encourage you to have a go, but my understanding is that the oxygen atom pulls the electrons a lot more strongly than the Hydrogen atom does and so the oxygen atoms attracts the carbon more strongly than the hydrogen does (the oxygen wants the electrons of the carbon). So, the c-o bond is stronger. This my understanding, might be wrong.

Hey there!
As DBA already mentioned, try to have a go yourself, however I'll give you a tip: look at the difference in electronegativities for each bond pair.

Thank you very much!!

Reasons to explore:

1. Bond polarity; as mentioned, the C-O is more polarised than the C-H bond, so there is an electrostatic interaction
2. Core charge; oxygen has eight protons and two inner shell electrons. That means the remaining six protons are essentially free to attract any valence electrons in bonds, which increases any bond strengths. Compare with hydrogen's one proton.

Also, there's another issue. When we talk about bond strength, we normally talk about the energy required to break a bond. That means the energy difference between a C-H bond and C, H atoms, for instance. The bond strengths, therefore, are not compared to a common reference point.

Thank you heaps!!

Mod edit: merged posts