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Intext · Q21

Q.Comment on the nature of two S-O bonds formed in SO2 molecule. Are the two S-O bonds in this molecule equal ?

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Step 1 — Lewis/resonance structures of SO2SO_2.

SO2SO_2 can be drawn with two major resonance structures, each showing one S=O double bond and one S→O bond (dative/single bond with a formal charge arrangement), with the double bond alternating between the two oxygens:

O=S−O−↔−O−S=OO=S-O^- \leftrightarrow {}^-O-S=O

Step 2 — Effect of resonance.

Because these structures are equivalent in energy and interconvert by simple electron delocalisation, the true structure is a resonance hybrid where the π-electron density is shared equally between both S–O bonds.

Step 3 — Consequence for bond nature. …

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