The center atom

[Kristy 1F]

The Lewis Structure of HClO is that O atom at the center bonded with H and Cl atom. However, the Cl atom is the least electronegative one except hydrogen, so why Cl atom is at the center of HClO’s Lewis Structure?

[Stephen Sirmay 1I]

Cl is not at the center of the Lewis Structure for HClO, O is at the center and O is most electronegative

[Megan Gianna Uy 3L]

In this case, oxygen is in the middle since the formal charge with oxygen in the middle is 0; whereas if chlorine is the the middle the formal charge would be +1.

[madisondesilva1c]

You can figure out which would be the central atom due to the formation with the atom that will make the most bonds, or share the most electrons. You can always use the formula charge formula to access and see that placing O as the center atom would give a formal charge closest to or at the optimal formal charge level of 0. Drawing out the structure may help you to visualize why the center atom is the atom that it is.

[Kelly Hollman]

To start finding the structures of this acid, you should first, according to the book, "choose as the central atom the element with the lowest ionization energy." Here, oxygen has the lowest ionization energy (besides Hydrogen, which shouldn't be considered as the central atom). Oxygen as the central atom is the best option for the Lewis structure, but, keep in mind that Chlorine can also be in the center (even if it isn't the most likely structure). Chlorine as the center atom results in formal charges for Chlorine and Oxygen, and structures with formal charges involved are less likely structures.

[Erin Kim 2G]

The element with the lowest ionization energy is in the middle of the structure when drawing Lewis dot structure. Ionization energy increases across the period and decreases down the group.

[Kyither Min 2K]

Typically, you would choose the element that has the lowest ionization energy as the middle and in this case, it is oxygen. Also, Chlorine typically only forms one bond so it wouldn't make sense to have Chlorine in the middle.

[SummerLee1F]

Typically, to draw the Lewis structure, you would need the total number of valence electrons, so what I do is write out each element’s valence electrons and the element with the smallest valence electron number is the center. Not sure how accurate my interpretation is, but that’s what I do for it.

[Sang Hyoun Hong 3G]

The textbook says to "choose as the central atom the element with the lowest ionization energy." In the case of the problem, the Oxygen has the lowest ionization energy so it is the central atom.

[Pritish Patil 1K]

The central atom would have the lowest ionization energy, which in this case is Oxygen.

[Soyoung Park 1H]

How do you know what center atom is for the lewis structure?

[Sophie Roberts 1E]

Oxygen is the center atom because you also have to consider the bond formation. Oxygen forms more bonds than Chlorine, so it should be the center atom, since there are two other atoms to form bonds with.

[harperlacroix1a]

The central atom is usually the one with the lowest ionization energy

[Samantha Chang 2K]

The center atom would be oxygen because if you look at the periodic table it has the lowest ionization energy.

[Samantha Chang 2K]

The center atom would be oxygen because if you look at the periodic table it has the lowest ionization energy.

[Vicky Lu 1L]

O would be the central atom since it is the least ionization energy and can form more bond than the H and Cl. It would not H since H can only have one bond and it would not be Cl either since can normally only form one bond.

[Rosha Mamita 2H]

atoms with the lowest ionization energy tend to be the central atom, and in this case oxygen has the lowest ionization energy. Ionization energy decreases down a group and increases across a period.

[inlovewithchemistry]

Here is the correct lewis structure for HClO.

[MichelleTran 1I]

Cl is the least electronegative atom in the molecule, but since it has 7 valence electrons, it only has room left for one electron to complete the shell. It's more stable overall to have oxygen in the middle of the molecule.

[404817859]

oxygen is the lowest ionization level, therefore, it is the central atom.

[Kevin Arokiaraj 4E]

The central atom is O because it has the least ionization energy.