Formal Charge

[Alekhya_Pantula_2E]

Hi! What is the most ideal formal charge for a lewis structure?

[Tristan Friet 3G]

Hi Ms. Pantula! I believe the answer to your question is zero because then it would be perfectly balanced.

[Robert Nguyen 14B-3E]

For an atom, the most ideal, or most stable, formal charge would be 0.
For a multi-atom lewis structure, the most stable configuration would be the one with the least formal charges present. For example, one with an atom with a +1 charge and another atom with a -2 charge would be less stable than a structure with only one atom with a -1 charge

[Ivy Nguyen 3I]

Hi! As the students above said, the most "ideal" formal charge for a lewis structure would be 0 as that would indicate that it is more stable than another lewis structure for the same molecule that may have a formal charge of -2 or any formal charge that isn't 0.

[Jahnavi Srinivas 2H]

The formal charge that would provide the most stability for a lewis structure is one that is closest to the value of zero. A charge of -2 or -3 is farther away from zero, making a structure less stable than if it had a charge of -1.

[Samantha Loc 1B]

Hi there!

Like everyone else said, the ideal formal charge of all atoms in a molecule would be 0. I believe my TA also mentioned that if you must have nonzero formal charges within your molecule, anything less/more than +-1 should be largely avoided.

[905740390]

The most ideal formal charge number for a lewis structure would be 0.

[Rebekah Jung 1C]

The most ideal charge would be zero because it is most balanced and stable.

[Windell Viste 1K]

The most ideal formal charge for a Lewis structure would be 0 because it would mean the molecule/structure is stable.

[Meia Schram 1J]

The ideal formal charge is 0 because that represents the structure is in balance. Think of a seesaw. If you have more weight on one side the whole thing tips. Same idea here where if even one element has a -2 charge while the other has +1 it won't be even and needs to fixed immediately.

[LukeYing_3H]

The most ideal formal charge would be 0

[Aliza Hacking 1A]

Hi! as everyone has said, the ideal would be 0! just also wanted to add that that fact does not necessarily mean it's the most common form for every molecule or atom, even if it's the most stable. there are some molecules, as we've seen in class, for which one or more atoms do not have a formal charge of zero and the molecule is still common in nature!

[Prithvi Raj 3E]

Traditionally, you would want a formal charge of a zero. When thinking of a charge, I think of instability. When a molecule has formal charges, it means its atoms has a wonky number of electrons around themselves. If you have a formal charge of 0, that means that atom has the perfect number of electrons around itself.

[Erin Woolmore 1C]

The most ideal formal charge would be 0 because then it would be the most stable.

[Tyler Olson 1E]

Zero would be the most ideal formal charge because that is the most stable. When there is a formal charge on an atom, the electrons are not helping it be in a stable bond and thus lead to an unfavorable bond with the other atoms in a molecule. This does happen naturally, but ideally 0 would be the formal charge.

[Tess_Fleser_1D]

Like many others have said, the idea charge is zero, but this is not always possible. If possible, you want all the elements in a bond to have a formal charge of zero, but if the bond itself has a charge (as it has gained or lost an electron), then at least one of the elements will have a formal charge of some sort. In that case you want to get as many elements with a formal charge of zero as you can, and minimize the charge on the other elements.

[Acharya Ranawat 3E]

The most ideal formal charge for a Lewis structure is 0. Otherwise it wouldn’t be stable. Hope this helps!

[Sam Forster 2J]

Hi! For an atom the most ideal formal charge is 0 as it much easier to keep charge within the same atom than spread it to another. However, 0 is not always possible so the charge closest to zero is the next best thing and net for a molecule 0 is also ideal.

[Stephanie Trinh 1F]

Since the ideal formal charge for a lewis structure would be when it is the most stable, it would be 0.

[Dillon Taing 3H]

The most ideal formal charge for a structure is zero. The farther away from zero the formal charge is, then the less stable it will become.

[Evan L 2B]

The ideal formal charge will always be zero because that is when the molecule is most stable/balanced.

[605607825]

Hello! Essentially, the most ideal formal charge for a Lewis Structure would be 0! This is because this will allow for the most stable configuration! The farther the charge is from 0, the more it becomes increasingly less stable. The way I like to think about this is by thinking about the word neutral. 0 is a neutral number that does not lean to one side more than another, it is balanced. I hope this helps!

[Do Yeun Park]

The most ideal form of formal charge is 0 because it's most stable at 0!

[Shannon Lau 14B - 1H]

The most ideal formal charge for a lewis structure is zero because that would mean that it is the most stable. The atom won't constantly be trying to either share the electron, give it away or gain any. In that case, it would be stable, living its life.

[Eric Sun 2G]

The most ideal charge is 0 because it allows for the atomic configuration to be in its most stable form.

[Kelly_Luong_1F]

The most ideal formal charge would be 0 or whatever is closest to 0 because that would indicate the most stable formation.

[alexjung1A]

The most ideal formal charge is 0.

[Jayden Tan 2L]

Hello!!! The most ideal formal charge would be 0 because that means the atom is the most stable!! You would calculate the formal charge using the number of valence electrons minus the lone pairs plus the shared electrons over 2.

[Arden Napoli 1E]

Hi,

The most stable formal charge would be 0 because it is not trying to gain or share electrons but its rather in its most stable form and has the amount of electrons that it desires.

[Tara Cumiskey 3K]

The most ideal formal charge is zero, but sometimes it is not always possible to achieve zero in the lewis structures, so try to get as close to zero as possible.

[michaelcrisera]

The most ideal formal charge for a lewis structure would be zero.

[Madelyn_Rios_2c]

The most ideal formal charge for a lewis structure would be 0 because it would be the most balanced/stable.

[105784203]

Hi! What is the most ideal formal charge for a lewis structure?

The formal charge may not alwasy determine the idealism for a lewis structure, but more so the electron configurations that result from covalent or ionic bonds.

[Shane_Yu_3K]

Hello!

The most ideal formal charge would be 0 meaning it's the structure is more stable.

[205705413]

Yes, the most ideal formal charge is 0.

[Mia Orr 3B]

The most ideal formal charge for a lewis structure is zero because that is when the molecule would be the most balanced and stable. Hope this helps!

[Coraly De Leon]

Hello !
Because we want a balanced molecule, the preferably charge will be 0.

[Benicio Rivera 1F]

A molecular structure in which all formal charges are zero is preferable to one in which some formal charges are not zero. If the Lewis structure must have nonzero formal charges, the arrangement with the smallest nonzero formal charges is preferable. Lewis structures are preferable when adjacent formal charges are zero or of the opposite sign.

[Evonne Chau 2I]

Hi Alekhya,

The most ideal formal charge for a Lewis structure is 0. Zero means it's the most stable and balanced. This also means that the charges closer to zero are more stable than the charges farther.

[AndreyCastellanos 3H]

most stable and balanced is 0 because it has no overlying positive or negative charges that affect it

[105532700]

The most ideal form of formal charge is 0 because it's most stable at zero

[505807269]

The ideal formal charge for a Lewis structure is 0, which indicates that the molecule/structure is stable.

[Trisha Badjatia 2L]

The most ideal overall formal charge would be 0 with all the individual element formal charges also being 0. That would be the major resonance structure.