Enter the covalent radii of two atoms and the electronegativity of each atom into the calculator to determine the bond length.

## Bond Length Formula

The following formula is used to calculate a bond length.

dA-B = rA + rB - .09 * (xA - xB)
• Where dA-B is the distance between the nuclei of atoms A and B
• rA is the covalent radius of atom A
• rA is the covalent radius of atom B
• xA is the electronegativity of atom A
• xB is the electronegativity of atom B

## Bond Length Definition

What is a bond length? A bond length is a measure of the distance between the centers of two bonded nuclei. The distance is typically measured in a picometer.

## Example

How to calculate bond length?

1. First, determine the lengths of the covalent radii.

For this example, the radius of atom A is 24 picometers and the radius of atom B is 32 picometers.

2. Next, determine the electronegativity of atom A.

For this problem, atom A has an electronegativity of 3.2.

3. Next, determine the electronegativity of atom B.

The electronegativity of atom B is found to be 2.1.

4. Finally, calculate the bond length.

Using the formula above, the bong length is found to be dA-B= 24+32-.09*(3.2-2.1) = 55.901.