A benzene ring consists of how many carbon atoms with what bonding pattern?

• A. Six carbon atoms with alternating double bonds
• B. Eight carbon atoms with single bonds
• C. Four carbon atoms with double bonds
• D. Six carbon atoms with all single bonds

Answer: (A)

Benzene is a six-carbon ring with a conjugated pi system. Each carbon is sp2-hybridized, forming three sigma bonds (two to neighboring carbons and one to a hydrogen) and leaving one p orbital to overlap with adjacent carbons. This creates a continuous network of pi bonds around the ring. In the classic depiction, you see alternating double and single bonds, but because the pi electrons are delocalized, all the C–C bonds become equivalent in reality. This combination—six carbon atoms arranged in a ring with an alternating double/single bond pattern in the common representation—best describes benzene’s bonding.

The other options don’t fit: eight carbons would describe a different structure, four carbons would be a smaller ring, and six carbons with all single bonds would lack the unsaturation and aromatic stabilization that benzene exhibits.