Given below are two statements : Statement (I): Experimentally determined oxygen-oxygen bond lengths in the $$ O_3 $$ are found to be same and the bond length is greater than that of a $$O = O$$ (double bond) but less than that of a single $$(O - O)$$ bond. Statement (II) : The strong lone pair-lone pair repulsion between oxygen atoms is solely responsible for the fact that the bond length in ozone is smaller than that of a double bond $$(O = O)$$ but more than that of a single bond $$(O - O)$$. In the light of the above statements, choose the correct answer from the options given below :

We need to evaluate two statements about bond lengths in ozone ($$O_3$$).

Analysis of Statement I: "The experimentally determined oxygen-oxygen bond lengths in $$O_3$$ are found to be the same, and the bond length is greater than that of $$O=O$$ (double bond) but less than that of a single $$O-O$$ bond."

Ozone has two resonance structures where a double bond alternates between the two terminal oxygen atoms. Due to resonance, both O-O bonds in ozone are equivalent, with a bond order of 1.5 (intermediate between single and double bonds). The bond length in $$O_3$$ is approximately 1.278 angstroms, which is indeed:

- Greater than the $$O=O$$ double bond length (1.21 angstroms in $$O_2$$)

- Less than the $$O-O$$ single bond length (1.48 angstroms in $$H_2O_2$$)

Statement I is TRUE.

Analysis of Statement II: "The strong lone pair-lone pair repulsion between oxygen atoms is solely responsible for the bond length in ozone being smaller than a double bond but more than a single bond."

This statement is incorrect for two reasons. First, the intermediate bond length in ozone is primarily due to resonance, not lone pair-lone pair repulsion. The delocalization of electrons across the two O-O bonds gives each bond a bond order of 1.5. Second, the statement says "solely responsible," which is factually wrong since resonance is the dominant factor.

Statement II is FALSE.

The correct answer is Option 3: Statement I is true but Statement II is false.