Given below are four statements regarding the bonding in various molecules: (A) A molecule of water contains 2 bonds and 2 lone pairs on the central atom. (B) A molecule of carbon dioxide contains 2 bonds and 2 bonds. (C) A molecule of hydrogen cyanide contains 2 bonds and 1 bond. (D) A molecule of benzene contains 12 bonds and 3 bonds. How many of the above statements are correct?

Step-by-step solution

Let us evaluate each statement: (A) Water ( H ₂ O ) has a central oxygen atom bonded to two hydrogen atoms via single bonds ( 2 bonds). Oxygen has 6 valence electrons; 2 are shared and 4 remain as non-bonding electrons, forming 2 lone pairs. This statement is correct. (B) Carbon dioxide ( CO ₂ ) has the structure O = C = O . Each double bond consists of 1 and 1 bond. Thus, there are 2 and 2 bonds in total. This statement is correct. (C) Hydrogen cyanide ( HCN ) has the structure H - C N . It contains one single bon