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AP Chemistry
2.6 Resonance and Formal Charge
2.5 Lewis Diagrams
AdvancedMCQMathematicalConceptual18.1k
Candidate Lewis diagrams for \(\text{SO}_4^{2-}\)
Candidate Lewis diagrams for \(\text{SO}_4^{2-}\)
Two proposed Lewis diagrams for the sulfate ion, \(\text{SO}_4^{2-}\), are shown below.

Diagram 1 strictly adheres to the octet rule for all atoms, with four single \(\text{S}-\text{O}\) bonds.

Diagram 2 minimizes formal charges by expanding the valence shell of the central sulfur atom to accommodate two \(\text{S}=\text{O}\) double bonds and two \(\text{S}-\text{O}\) single bonds.

To quantitatively evaluate the formal charge distribution of Diagram 2, a student calculates the sum of the absolute values of the formal charges on all five atoms:

\[ \sum |\text{FC}| = |\text{FC}_{\text{S}}| + \sum_{i=1}^{4} |\text{FC}_{\text{O},i}| \]

What is the calculated value of \(\sum |\text{FC}|\) for Diagram 2?

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