Question

How many lone pairs of electrons are there in oxygen molecule?

• A. 2
• B. 4
• C. 6
• D. 5

Answer 1

The correct option is B 4

Oxygen atom has electronic configuration of $1s^{2}2s^{2}2p^4$.

It has 6 electrons in valence (2nd) shell.

The oxygen atom needs two more electrons to achieve noble gas (neon) configuration.

Therefore, oxygen shares two electrons with another oxygen atom to form a double bond.


The number of non bonding valence electrons for each oxygen atom = 6 - 2 = 4. Thus, each oxygen atom has 2 lone pairs of electrons.
Hence, oxygen molecule has four lone pairs of electrons.