Achieve Week 7-8 Question 17

[Leticia Guzman 3H]

When we are told to draw 3 possible structures of a molecule such as C3H4, are we expected to include linear and cyclic structures? How do we know when to draw other structures besides linear structures?

[505934309]

I think that we can know this be cyclical because the question tells us to make 3 resonance structures but the only other possible shape is not linear. As for placement, we know that there are not enough hydrogen atoms to make one big ring so that the carbon must connect in a circle and the hydrogen are attached to the carbon. This is obviously tricky but it takes a lot of messing around with lewis structures and placement and finding formal charges to figure out what works. We haven't done much with cyclical shapes but I hope this helps!