delocalized electrons

[Nan_Guan_1L]

Hello! I've been a little troubled by the term "delocalized" when describing electrons in resonance structures. I understand how resonance structures are formed, but I don't see in what sense are these electrons delocalized? can someone please explain! thank you!

[Faaizah Arshad 1H]

When we say that electrons are delocalized, we mean that the electrons for a multiple bond in a resonance structure are equally likely to be anywhere on the resonance structure. The delocalized electrons are not associated with a particular atom or covalent bond. If they were, then you would have single bond and double bond characters. But, in resonance structures, we see that all bond lengths are of equal length, which means the electrons are spread over the entire molecule.

[Nina Tartibi 1F]

When we say that electrons are delocalized, we mean that the electrons for a multiple bond in a resonance structure are equally likely to be anywhere on the resonance structure. The delocalized electrons are not associated with a particular atom or covalent bond. If they were, then you would have single bond and double bond characters. But, in resonance structures, we see that all bond lengths are of equal length, which means the electrons are spread over the entire molecule.

So to add on, when referring to electrons being delocalized are you referring to the total number of valence electrons or lone pairs? Or bonds since bonds are the things that can be moved around in resonant structures?

[Vanshika Bhushan 1A]

Delocalized electrons are electrons in a molecule, ion or solid metal that are not associated with a single atom or a covalent bond. Electrons that can move around are delocalized – they can be placed on one atom but can also be shared between that and the neighboring atom, i.e. can participate in resonance stabilization.

[Tae Pasawat 2A]

It means that the electrons are not forced in a small and local area, they now have the ability to move freely throughout the electron cloud that is formed by the resonance structure.