Formal Charge and Ions

[Joey_Okumura_1E]

Please confirm: The formal charge on an ionic compound will not be equal to 0; it will equal the charge of the ionic compound. However, the most stable structure is the structure where the individual atoms within the ionic compound have the lowest formal charges.

[Yuehan_Wu_3K]

I think the rest is right except that it should be the total formal charge on an atom is zero.

[Leo Naylor 2F]

I believe that the concept of formal charges only applies to covalent bonds. I wrote in my notes that the definition of formal charge is "gain or loss of electrons of an atom when forming a covalent bond." Thus, formal charge does not apply to ionic compounds. This also makes sense because formal charges assume that electrons are being shared equally within a bond, but ionic compounds do not share electrons equally.

[JoshMoore2B]

I believe that the concept of formal charges only applies to covalent bonds. I wrote in my notes that the definition of formal charge is "gain or loss of electrons of an atom when forming a covalent bond." Thus, formal charge does not apply to ionic compounds. This also makes sense because formal charges assume that electrons are being shared equally within a bond, but ionic compounds do not share electrons equally.

Yep, I also believe this is correct. Formal charge is a concept that deals with covalent bonds, not ionic bonds. Formal charge is used to deduce the relative charge of atoms involved in molecules because of their distribution, whereas in ions it tends to be along the lines of "donation," and so their distribution isn't as ambiguous.

[Carly_Lipschitz_3H]

Formal charges are a concept applied to covalent compounds, not ionic compounds. You are correct in the second part though because the most stable structure is the structure where the individual atoms within the covalent compound have the lowest formal charges. Covalent bonds share electrons, whereas ionic bonds do not. So, it makes sense that formal charges would be used for covalent bonds but not ionic bonds because they assume that the electrons are being shared equally.

[FionaHunter21]

When the formal charges are added, they should equal the overall charge of the molecule, and they favor the structure that has the most atoms with a formal charge of 0.

[Nan_Guan_1L]

if you are talking about a covalent compound, then the last part is correct because it would provide a more stable structure. As for ionic compounds, I don't think the formal charges apply to that, or is it just we haven't covered yet. I think what we discussed in class about formal charge only applies to covalent compounds.

[Sabrina Galvan 3J]

Yes, in addition, to having the lowest formal charges, negative formal charges must also be on the most electronegative atom within the compound.