Question

Which of the following is correctly ranked in order of increasing bond energy? (1) C−C < C−S < C−O < C−F (2) C−F < C−O < C−C < C−S (3) C−C < C−O < C−F < C−S (4) C−S < C−F < C−O < C−C (5) C−S < C−C < C−O < C−F

The answer is 5. Please THOROUGHLY explain and show WHY it is. Thank you.

Answer 1

(1) C−C < C−S < C−O < C−F

(2) C−F < C−O < C−C < C−S

(3) C−C < C−O < C−F < C−S

(4) C−S < C−F < C−O < C−C

(5) C−S < C−C < C−O < C−F

You should compare this via tables of bond enthalpies... if that is not the case... then:

this is due to electronegativities

as you can see

F > O > S > C

NOTE that "S" in this case is very heavy, so its electronegative is not that high compared to all other, so this must be the last one

so

F > O > C > S (when speaking of electronegativity differences, not only the point value)