resonance importance?

[cassidysong 1K]

I know that a resonant structure lowers the energy of a molecule to make it more stable but I don't really understand why having a mixture of structures help lowers the energy. Any insight would be helpful

[Parker Smith]

Resonance structures are more stable because they involve the delocalization of electrons. Therefore, they don't form negative/positive regions on the molecule, but are delocalized and neutral throughout the molecule. This in turn lowers the molecules energy state making it more stable.

[Amy Pham 1D]

Resonance structures show the different versions of the Lewis structure that "blend" together to form the actual form of the molecule. They are necessary to show that the delocalized electrons are not just stationary in one spot, they are located in locations determined by the blending of the resonance structures that help to lower energy.

[Matthew Chan 1B]

Electrons don't actually stay in place like how they look in Lewis structures. They are not stationary. They are constantly moving around and thus, the resonance structures allow us to get a better picture of what the actual molecule looks like, since resonance depicts how the electrons may move around.

[Victoria Otuya 4F]

Why is it important to draw the resonance structure?

[Destiny_Ryales_3J]

So are all these answers in short saying that the resonance structures show how electrons may move to have the most stable interactions possible?

[MeeraBhagat]

Why is it important to draw the resonance structure?

it is important to draw all of the resonance structures because it allows us to better understand the concept of delocalization of electrons. It shows that there are certain types of bonds in the molecule, but that the bond is not located in one specific case, and is instead blended throughout the structure. It reiterates that the electrons can be anywhere.

[erica thompson 4I]

It's also important to know that electrons don't "jump" from one resonance structure to the other, but rather the different resonance structures show the different placements of electrons as they constantly move about.