how to draw

[ATingin_3I]

How do I draw resonance structures? I know that you can draw all the different structures and write arrows or draw them with dotted lines. Which one is better?

[Kevin Liu 1J]

Usually resonance structures are differentiated by a difference in bonds (single, double, triple) that can be rotated among the similar atoms to form the resonance structures.

[Sarah Nichols 4C]

Doctor Lavelle mentioned both ways of drawing resonance structures. I don't know that one is necessarily better, but since in the examples we've been drawing the structures out separately with the double-sided arrows, we should probably stick with that :)

[Ashley R 1A]

To find the resonance structure that is the "best" or most stable we first look at the number of covalent bonds. The greater the number of bonds, the greater the stability of the structure as more atoms will have a complete octet. Additionally, the structure with the least number of formal charges and the least separation of formal charges will be more stable. Hence, a structure with formal charges of (0, 0, 0) would be more stable than a structure with (+1, -1, 0).

[Cindy Adiwidjaja 1B]

Although we were faced with both types of examples, Lavelle usually draws them out separately, as multiple different structures with different type of bond arrangements, so I think we should stick to that.

[Elizabeth Harty 1A]

My TA said if you do the shorthand (with the arrows) instead of actually drawing all the structures you should write an explanation to show that you know how many there are

[mayarivers3I]

To draw a resonance structure you rearrange the bonds. The resonance structure that's the best is the one with the least formal charge on the most electronegative element.