delocalized electrons

[Fdonovan 3D]

What does it mean that electrons are delocalized? And why don't Lewis structure capture this effect?

[Jade Hinds 2B]

by definition: a delocalized electron is an electron that is not associated with a single atom/covalent bond

however, I'm also not quite sure why the lewis structure doesn't capture this effect???

[Harry Zhang 1B]

Delocalised electrons means that in a resonance structure, the electrons are not particularly associated with specific atoms in one specific location, they are instead conceptually distributed over various pairs of atoms and cannot be drawn with a stationary, one-dimensional Lewis structure since in order to draw one you have to assign electrons to some atom.

[Callum Guo 1H]

it makes it hard to draw so we don't represent them. Delocalization of electrons are not bound to just one atom but they are freely floating so the actual molecule is a sort of average of all the resonance structures

Heres an article that helps explain it.https://chem.libretexts.org/Bookshelves ... _Chemistry)/Chemical_Bonding/Valence_Bond_Theory/Delocalization_of_Electrons