Determining stability of a molecule's shape

[annemarielawrence]

When drawing the molecular shape of the compound how do you determine which is most stable? Do you base it off formal charge of a lone element or repulsion?

[Lily Dabrowski 2G]

The most stable structure would be based off of the formal charges for all the elements in the molecule. The most stable structure would have the lowest possible formal charges for each atom.

[Sophia Kangavari 1D]

I'm having trouble with this too- is it the formal charge on the center atom needs to be 0 or formal charges on all need to be 0 to be more stable?

[Nomi Heidari-Bateni 2K]

In most cases, stability is based off following the octet rule and formal charges. As long as each atom reaches a full valence shell, the next step in determining stability is formal charges. A molecule in which every atom has a formal charge of 0 is most stable.