Sidospituus

Sidospituus is a term used in Finnish texts to refer to what is more commonly called sidospituus, meaning bond length. The expression sidospituus may appear as a misspelling or variant, but the concept it denotes is the distance between two atoms joined by a chemical bond within a molecule. Bond length is typically measured in picometers or angstroms and is a key parameter in understanding molecular structure.

Bond lengths depend on several factors. Bond order (single, double, triple) generally correlates with length, with higher-order bonds being shorter. The identities of the bonded atoms, their electronegativities, and hybridization influence the distance. Conjugation, resonance, and steric interactions can also shorten or lengthen a bond relative to standard values.

Typical ranges (in angstroms) for common bonds are roughly: C–H about 1.09 Å; C–C around 1.54 Å for a single bond; C=C about 1.34 Å; C≡C around 1.20 Å; N≡N about 1.10 Å; O–H about 0.96 Å. Note that actual values vary with molecular context and measurement method.

Measurement and determination methods include X-ray crystallography for crystalline samples, neutron diffraction to locate light atoms, and spectroscopic approaches combined with structural modeling for gases. Computational chemistry also predicts bond lengths using quantum mechanical methods and serves to interpret experimental data.

Sidospituus, or more correctly sidospituus in Finnish, is fundamental for predicting molecular geometry, reactivity, and material properties. It underpins databases of structural information and informs modeling in chemistry and related fields. See also bond length, covalent radius, molecular geometry, and spectroscopy.