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AP Chemistry
2.6 Resonance and Formal Charge
2.5 Lewis Diagrams
AdvancedMCQMathematicalConceptual18k
A grayscale molecular structure diagram showing two candidate Lewis diagrams for the sulfate ion side-by-side, each enclosed in large square brackets with an overall charge of 2- at the top-right. The left structure is labeled 'Diagram 1' and shows a central S atom with zero lone pairs bonded via four single bonds to four O atoms (top, bottom, left, right). Each of the four O atoms in Diagram 1 has exactly 3 lone pairs (6 dots arranged in three pairs on the exterior sides). The right structure is labeled 'Diagram 2' and shows a central S atom with zero lone pairs bonded via two double bonds to the top and right O atoms, and two single bonds to the bottom and left O atoms. The top and right O atoms each have exactly 2 lone pairs (4 dots arranged in two pairs on the exterior sides). The bottom and left O atoms each have exactly 3 lone pairs (6 dots arranged in three pairs on the exterior sides). No other particles, labels, text, or annotations appear.
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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