Final answer:
The ranking for diatomic fluorine species in terms of bond strength and bond length from strongest to weakest and shortest to longest is F2+ > F2 > F2-. This is determined by their bond orders, with F2+ having the highest bond order of 1.5 and F2- the lowest at 0.5.
Step-by-step explanation:
Bond Length and Bond Strength in Diatomic Fluorine Species
To rank the diatomic species of fluorine (F2, F2+, and F2-) in order of bond length and bond strength, we consider molecular orbital theory. The bond order is a good predictor of bond strength: the higher the bond order, the stronger and shorter the bond. For fluorine species, we have:
- F2 has a bond order of 1.
- F2+ has a bond order of 1.5.
- F2- has a bond order of 0.5.
Based on these bond orders, F2+ has the strongest and shortest bond while F2- has the weakest and longest bond. Therefore, the correct ranking in order of decreasing bond strength (which correlates with increasing bond length) is F2+ > F2 > F2-, which matches option (c) from the choices provided.