Formal Charge

[duenezjuleny1D]

When making a Lewis structure for an ion, does it matter what atom the formal charge is on, or the structure is valid as long as the overall formal charge is correct?

[Ethan McCarthy 1F]

I believe the more electronegative atom of the two involved in a bond would be the more likely atom to have the negative formal charge. However, I'm not sure if the opposite is true for the positive formal charges.

[Pipiena Malafu 3J]

For most stable structures, the more electronegative atom should typically be the one with the negative formal charge and the opposite is true for the opposite case.

[VioletKo3F]

What's the equation for the formal charge?

[Diana_Diep2I]

What's the equation for the formal charge?

V-(L+S/2) where V is for valence electrons, L is for number of lone electrons, and S is for number of shared electrons.

[Nuoya Jiang]

After checking the formal charge, we also prefer structures that have -1 on the more electronegative atoms.

[emaad_3H]

You want to minimize the magnitude of formal charges for the sum of the atoms. You want to maximize the number of formal charges of 0.

[Amanda Mei 1B]

The most stable Lewis structure for an ion is the one that minimizes formal charges (minimize having separate charges). Also, the negative formal charge should be on the most electronegative atom.

[Areena H 2K]

The most electronegative atom has the most negative charge on it, but when we want the lowest energy structure with the least amount of formal charges as possible.

[BCaballero_4F]

The most electronegative atom should have the negative charge, I think it does matter what the formal charges are on individuals which would then lead to the correct charge for the overall structure.