Past exam of the chemistry A course of the University of Cambridge / 2022 / Paper 1 / A4 / a / i / Solution

The alternating short and long bonds preserve fourfold, but not eightfold, rotations. Including the molecular plane and inversion symmetry, the planar structure belongs to $D_{4h}$, the D4h molecular point group.

Use the printed axes: the short bonds are $1$–$2$, $3$–$4$, $5$–$6$ and $7$–$8$, and the $x$ and $y$ axes pass through the midpoints of opposite short bonds. Interchanging short and long bonds is not a molecular symmetry operation of this geometry.