Q.Draw the Lewis structures for the following species.
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Start your 14-day free trial to unlock the full solution →Step 1. NO₃⁻. Total valence electrons = 5 (N) + 3×6 (O) + 1 (charge) = 24. Skeletal structure: N central, bonded to three O atoms. After distributing electrons, one N=O double bond and two N-O single bonds result (with formal negative charge on the singly-bonded oxygens); three equivalent resonance structures can be drawn by moving the double bond among the three oxygens, so the real structure is a resonance hybrid with all three N-O bonds equivalent (average bond order 4/3).
Step 2. SO₄²⁻. Total valence electrons = 6 (S) + 4×6 (O) + 2 (charge) = 32. Skeletal structure: S central, bonded to four O atoms, tetrahedral. Sulphur, being a period-3 element, can expand its octet; the commonly-drawn structure has two S=O double bonds and two S-O⁻ single bonds (or, equivalently, four resonance-averaged S-O bonds of intermediate order), giving all four oxygens equivalent bonding overall. …
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