Formal Charge

[Noah Chriqui 2H]

Can someone give a list of some of the general trends we see with atoms in a molecule in determining formal charge. For example, if I have a negatively charged molecule, how should I know which atom should have the formal charge of -1?

[Sophia_Galstyan_3I]

The most electronegative atom usually has the formal charge as it attracts the electrons to itself. However, if you simply draw the Lewis structure correctly, you should already be able to tell which atom has the negative formal charge.

[806063252]

using the equation FC=V-(l+s/2) you should be able to calculate the formal charge and discover if it has 0, 1, -1 or so on.