2B.19 (7th ed)

[Duby3L]

Draw the Lewis structure and determine the formal charge on each atom.

So far CN- how come we couldn't have done 5 bonds with 1 lone pair on nitrogen. The solution shows 3 bonds and 1 lone pair on C and 1 lone pair on nitrogen but I don't understand why they have that structure?

[Samantha Hoegl Roy 2C]

For CN- you have 4e- + 5e- + 1e- = 10 e-

You can not violate the octate rule with these specific elements. If you give them five bonds, this goes against the octate rule. Thus, the triple bond with the two lone pairs in the only solution that works

[Abby De La Merced 3F]

I am kind of confused about this too. Does having two lone pairs instead of one make the structure more stable?