Understanding Resonance Structures

[Iris Shim 1E]

When the Lewis structures of molecules have multiple Resonance Structures, what does that mean for the molecule? Does that mean a more stable (has less formal charge) resonance structure occurs more frequently for the molecule in nature than a resonance structure with more formal charge?

[Justin Chu 1G]

In nature, I'm pretty sure that the real structure is a blend of all resonance structures so I don't think one would occur more frequently. However, the most stable structure (with the least formal charge) is the biggest contributor to the structure.

[Vincent Kim 2I]

Resonance is just a term to describe when a molecule has a double bond that can be placed in multiple locations without changing the actual structure of the molecule. A molecule with resonance will always have the same formal charge, that doesn't change. Naturally, the real structure of the molecule is a blend of all resonance structures.

[Lauren Seidl 1D]

When comparing the bond lengths of two different molecules and one has resonance structures, you can determine its relative bond length by taking an average of the bond lengths within the resonance structure, which can then be compared to the bond length of other molecules. This is consistent with the notion that the real structure is sort of a blend of all resonance structures.

[Dayanara Ruiz]

If a molecule has multiple resonance structures it just means that it has a double bond that can be placed in multiple locations without disrupting the stability and formal charge. In nature ti can be assumed that a from of all combined resonances makes up the atom but for drawing purposes you must draw all of them and the outline of the resonances combined.

[An Dang 3F]

When a molecule has a resonance structure, then it will also have delocalized electrons which are electrons that are not associated with just one atom or bond.

[204917020]

When a molecule has multiple resonance structures, it just means that the representation of the actual structure of the molecule is a blend of all the resonance structures, each bond that could be displayed as a double bond has a partial double bond character. This blending of characters is what makes them resonance structures. All forms of the resonance structures have the same energy, and the real structure is a resonance hybrid.