Question

Consider the following four compounds:
(i) $C_x{O}_y$ , (ii) $C_x{O}_{y+1}$ (iii) $C_{x+2}{O}_{y+1}$ and (iv) $C_{x+11}{O}_{y+8}$ .
If value of $x$ and $y=1$ , then calculate the value of $|p-q|$, where $p$ and $q$ are total number of $s{p}^2$ and $sp$ hybridized carbon atoms respectively in given four compounds.

Answer 1

Compound	Number of $s{p}^2$ hybridized $C$ atoms ($p$)	Number of $sp$ hybridized $C$ atoms ($q$)
$CO$	0	1
$C{O}_2$	0	1
$C_3{O}_2$	0	3
$C_{12}{O}_9$	12	0

$\therefore |p-q|=12-5=7$ .