formal charge

[reva_bajjuri]

does an atom need to be bonded for it to have a formal charge?

[Valerie Doan 3I]

Yes, an atom needs to bonded. The formal charge equation includes the shared electrons that the atom has and the nonbonding electrons.

[Justin Zhang_1A]

Yes, because to calculate formal charge, you need to use both the number of lone pair electrons and the number of bonded electrons.

[Leo Naylor 2F]

To clarify further, formal charge is defined as the gain or loss of electrons of an atom when forming a covalent bond. Thus, an atom not forming a covalent bond could not have a formal charge.

[Eva Becker]

Yes because formal charge refers to the charge of a compound. You must calculate it using the number of bound and lone electrons, proving that a bond is needed.

[Sreeram Kurada 3H]

Yes since the formal charge is for lewis structures, and lewis structures are made to map the bonds of the atoms in a compound.

[Violet Kwan 3H]

Yes, it does. Formal charge is used to determine the assigned charge of an atom in a molecule specifically.

[Ansh Patel 2I]

Yes! Formal charges refer to the charges of bonded atoms when an electron is lost or gained in a covalent bond.

[IshanModiDis2L]

Yes you definitely do because you need to use both the number of lone pair electrons and the number of bonded electrons when considering the formal charge on the element.

[Juliet Carr 1F]

Formal charge definition states that it is the charge of an atom in a molecule, so it must be bonded to other atoms. Also if the atom was not bonded then there would be an important part of the formula missing, and it could not be calculated.

[Griffin G]

Yes.

[Rayna Irving 2C]

Yes because you have to take into account the number of bonded electrons an atom has in order to calculate the formal charge.