CHEMISTRY COMMUNITY

Can someone explain how the UAs suggested to quickly calculate formal charge by drawing a circle and counting lines and dots? And does it work for all Lewis structures?

The UA did that to half the number of shared electrons through the bond. I wouldn't attempt it on the final or worry about having to do it. Dr. Lavelle has not gone over it in lecture with us.

I'm not sure if this is the same as what you're describing, but the shortcut I was given was just to count the electrons around the drawn atom and see if they match the number of valence electrons that atom should have. You erase the middle of any bonds, showing that each atom is giving one electron. This can be a useful way to visualize it, but I would still probably use the formula to be 100% sure.

Can someone please explain to me the concept of formal charge? I am just not quite understanding it. Does anyone have tips or tricks to help comprehend it?

Formal charge compares the number of electrons around a "neutral atom" with the number of electrons around an atom in a molecule. It plays a key role in creating relatively stable lewis structures.