homework question 3.71 (6th edition)

[Shreya Tamatam 3B]

The question states, "Select from each of the following pairs of Lewis structures the one that is likely to make the dominant contribution to a resonance hybrid. Explain your selection."

For questions such as these, do we just choose the molecule which has formal charges of zero? Would molecules with smaller formal charges make the likely contribution to a resonance hybrid?

[Yousif Jafar 1G]

The resonance structures with the most formal charges equal to or close to 0 are the ones that contribute the most to the resonance hybrid.

[Brandon Mo 4K]

You want to choose the most stable Lewis structure. This would relate to the formal charges and how you want as many 0's as possible.

[John Kim Lec3Dis3L]

To build on what the others have said, you basically need to search for the molecule whose individual formal charges average closest to zero; that molecule is going to be most likely to make the more dominant contribution.