Finding Formal Charge

[Emma Randolph 1J]

Hi I'm just confused about why we have to find the formal charges of each atom/ what purpose it serves??

[Fanny Lee 2K]

Knowing the formal charge on a particular atom in a structure is an important part of keeping track of the electrons and is important for establishing and predicting the reactivity. The formal charge on an atom in a molecule reflects the electron count associated with the atom compared to the isolated neutral atom.

[taline_n]

We also find the formal charge of each atom to determine the most stable Lewis Structure of the ion. The closer an atom's formal charge is to equaling 0, the more stable the structure is.

[deepto_mizan1H]

Another aspect of finding the formal charge and its usefulness comes from being able to understand the overall charge of the ion, which we should be able to derive by calculating charges of the individual atoms. This can help when we have an ion that we are not sure of what the exact charge is, but we may need when determining reactivity or best fits.