{"id":212652,"date":"2025-05-07T14:12:29","date_gmt":"2025-05-07T14:12:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/learnexams.com\/blog\/?p=212652"},"modified":"2025-05-07T14:12:31","modified_gmt":"2025-05-07T14:12:31","slug":"choose-the-best-lewis-structure-for-nh4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/2025\/05\/07\/choose-the-best-lewis-structure-for-nh4\/","title":{"rendered":"Choose the best Lewis structure for NH4"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Choose the best Lewis structure for NH4<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A)<br>B) H-N-H<br>C)<br>D)<br>E)<br>14) Ca<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-ast-global-color-0-color\">The Correct Answer Explanation is:<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The correct Lewis structure for <strong>NH\u2084\u207a (ammonium ion)<\/strong> is:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>A)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code>         H\n         |\n     H - N\u207a - H\n         |\n         H\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p>This structure shows a nitrogen (N) atom in the center, forming <strong>four single covalent bonds<\/strong> with four hydrogen (H) atoms. The structure also carries a <strong>+1 formal charge<\/strong>, making it the ammonium <strong>ion (NH\u2084\u207a)<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Explanation (300+ words)<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The ammonium ion (NH\u2084\u207a) is a positively charged polyatomic ion. To construct the correct Lewis structure, we follow these steps:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>1. Count the total valence electrons:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Nitrogen (N)<\/strong> has <strong>5 valence electrons<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Each <strong>hydrogen (H)<\/strong> has <strong>1 valence electron<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Total electrons from atoms = 5 (N) + 4\u00d71 (H) = <strong>9 electrons<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Since the molecule has a <strong>+1 charge<\/strong>, we <strong>subtract 1 electron<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>So, total electrons = 9 \u2013 1 = <strong>8 valence electrons<\/strong> to distribute.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>2. Draw the skeleton structure:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Place nitrogen (N) at the center, with four hydrogen atoms (H) around it.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code>         H\n         |\n     H - N - H\n         |\n         H\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>3. Distribute electrons as bonds:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Each N\u2013H bond requires 2 electrons.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>4 bonds \u00d7 2 electrons = <strong>8 electrons<\/strong> used \u2014 which matches our total.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>All electrons are used to form bonds, and there are <strong>no lone pairs<\/strong> on the nitrogen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>4. Formal charges:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Let\u2019s calculate formal charge on nitrogen:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Valence electrons<\/strong> of N = 5<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Bonding electrons<\/strong> shared = 8 (in 4 bonds) \u2192 4 owned by N<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Formal charge = 5 \u2013 4 = <strong>+1<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Each hydrogen has a formal charge of 0.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, the entire NH\u2084\u207a ion has a net charge of <strong>+1<\/strong>, which matches the ion\u2019s charge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Why the others are incorrect:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Option <strong>B)<\/strong>, showing &#8220;H\u2013N\u2013H&#8221;, only accounts for 2 hydrogen atoms and 2 bonds, which is <strong>incomplete<\/strong> for NH\u2084\u207a. Other options are either blank or incomplete and do not correctly represent the structure or charge of the ammonium ion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Conclusion:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The correct Lewis structure for <strong>NH\u2084\u207a<\/strong> is a <strong>central nitrogen atom<\/strong> bonded to <strong>four hydrogen atoms<\/strong>, with a <strong>+1 overall charge<\/strong>. There are <strong>no lone pairs on nitrogen<\/strong>, and the octet rule is satisfied. Therefore, <strong>Option A<\/strong> is correct<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Choose the best Lewis structure for NH4 A)B) H-N-HC)D)E)14) Ca The Correct Answer Explanation is: The correct Lewis structure for NH\u2084\u207a (ammonium ion) is: A) This structure shows a nitrogen (N) atom in the center, forming four single covalent bonds with four hydrogen (H) atoms. The structure also carries a +1 formal charge, making it [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-212652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-exams-certification"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212652","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=212652"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212652\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=212652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=212652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=212652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}