What is the formal charge on each of the atoms in the Lewis structure of the PO4 (-3) charge?
Draw another possible Lewis structure of the phosphate ion below. Formal charge on P is ?
-how do I do this problem.
To determine the formal charge on an atom in a Lewis structure, you need to follow these steps:
1. Draw the Lewis structure: Start by drawing the central atom, which in this case is phosphorus (P). Place the other atoms (oxygen, O) around the central atom. Use dots to represent valence electrons on each atom.
For the PO4 (-3) charge, you would place three lone pairs of electrons on each oxygen atom. Since two electrons are shared in each P-O bond, you would also draw a double bond between P and one of the oxygen atoms. Finally, add a negative charge (-) to represent the overall charge of -3.
The Lewis structure for PO4 (-3) would look like this:
O
|3-
O - P - O
|
O
2. Calculate formal charge: The formal charge on an atom can be calculated using the formula:
Formal Charge = (Number of Valence Electrons) - (Number of Lone Pair Electrons) - (Number of Bonded Electrons)
For oxygen (O):
Formal Charge on O = 6 - 6 - 2 = -2
Since there are four oxygen atoms in PO4 (-3), each oxygen atom will have a formal charge of -2.
For phosphorus (P):
Formal Charge on P = 5 - 0 -8 = -3
Thus, phosphorus (P) will have a formal charge of -3.
To draw another possible Lewis structure for the phosphate ion (PO4^3-), you would need to rearrange the atoms. One possible arrangement is where two oxygen atoms are single-bonded to the phosphorus atom, and the other two oxygen atoms are double-bonded to phosphorus:
O
|
O
O = P = O
|
O
In this structure, the formal charge on phosphorus (P) can be calculated as:
Formal Charge on P = 5 - 0 - 10 = -5
Thus, phosphorus (P) will have a formal charge of -5 in this different Lewis structure.
To determine the formal charge on each of the atoms in the Lewis structure of the PO4 (-3) ion, follow these steps:
1. Assign an oxidation state to each atom:
- Oxygen usually has an oxidation state of -2.
- Hydrogen usually has an oxidation state of +1, but in this case, there are no hydrogen atoms.
- Phosphorus is the central atom in this case, so the sum of the oxidation states on all the atoms bonded to it should equal the charge on the ion (-3).
2. Calculate the formal charge for each atom:
- Formal charge = Number of valence electrons in free atom - Number of non-bonding electrons - Number of electrons shared in bonds/2
Alternatively, you can also use the following formula to calculate the formal charge:
Formal charge = Group number of the atom (valence electrons in the neutral atom) - Number of non-bonding electrons - 0.5 * Number of bonding electrons
For the PO4 (-3) ion:
- P = a group 15 element with 5 valence electrons
- O (3 atoms) = a group 16 element with 6 valence electrons
Following the above steps and calculations, the formal charges on each of the atoms in the Lewis structure of the PO4 (-3) ion are as follows:
- The formal charge on P: [5 (valence electrons) - 0 (non-bonding electrons) - 8 (bonding electrons)/2] = +1.
- The formal charges on each O:
- Oxygen 1: [6 (valence electrons) - 6 (non-bonding electrons) - 2 (bonding electrons)/2] = -1
- Oxygen 2: [6 (valence electrons) - 6 (non-bonding electrons) - 2 (bonding electrons)/2] = -1
- Oxygen 3: [6 (valence electrons) - 6 (non-bonding electrons) - 2 (bonding electrons)/2] = -1
Now, to draw another possible Lewis structure of the phosphate ion with the formal charge on the phosphorus (P) atom, consider rearranging the electrons in the structure.
Without a more specific prompt, it is difficult to provide an alternative Lewis structure as there are multiple possibilities. The formal charge on the phosphorus (P) atom in the new structure would depend on how the electrons are rearranged.
Please provide further information or specific instructions if you would like step-by-step guidance on drawing an alternative Lewis structure for the phosphate ion with a particular formal charge on P.
I have been able to draw a few very simple Lewis structures but most cannot be drawn because of the way the boards handles spaces (it recognizes only the first space and ignores the other ones). Here is a site that will give that.
http://www.google.com/search?q=lewis+structure+PO4^-3&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a
The formal charge on each O atoms is -1 and the formal charge on the central P atoms is +1.