Formal Charge and Resonance

[Daniel Yu 1E]

Do formal charges give any information on the resonance of a molecule?

[Anna Chen 1K]

Not really, you should pay attention to the kind of bonds in a compounds in a lewis structure. If there are more than one kind, it should have resonance structures.

[KarineKim2L]

I believe that formal charges can tell you which resonance is most stable, and whether a resonance structure is energetically favorable or likely to occur, but it does not directly tell you whether there are resonance structures (which there usually are).

[kendal mccarthy]

Formal charges help you find the most probable structure and from there you can see if there could be resonance structures of that structure.

[Max Madrzyk Dis 4G]

No formal charges help find the most stable structure of the compound but don't really tell you anything about resonance.

[Nathan Rothschild_2D]

Formal charges will give you the most stable structure, meaning you then should be able to tell based off the most stable structure if the molecule has resonance structures.