Benzene is an organic chemical compound with the molecular formula C6H6. In the benzene molecule, carbon atoms form a ring with
alternating single and double bonds connecting them. Thus, each individual carbon atom forms one σ bond with another carbon atom and one σ and one π bond with another carbon atom. Each carbon atom also forms one σ bond with a hydrogen atom. Identify which types of orbitals overlap to form the bonds between the atoms in a benzene molecule.
The six-carbon benzene ring contains two types of bonds: C-C and C-H bonds, that are -hybridized σ bonds, and the six π bonds that form the aromatic ring. The σ bonds form from one orbital and two orbitals from each carbon, which then bond the carbon to the two carbons on either side and the carbon's single hydrogen. The remaining orbital from each carbon atom sticks out above and below the plane of the ring; these orbitals overlap sideways, rather than lengthwise, to form the aromatic π bond system.
