Arre, beta, you simply count the bonding electrons minus antibonding electrons, then divide by two. For N2, bond order is 3; for N2+, it's 2.5; for O2-, it's 1.5. These diagrams I've drawn on this same chalkboard for thirty years, until the dust made me cough. But when my old students, now engineers, explain it back to me, the numbers feel as solid as my morning tea.
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