{"id":221162,"date":"2025-05-29T08:31:41","date_gmt":"2025-05-29T08:31:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/learnexams.com\/blog\/?p=221162"},"modified":"2025-05-29T08:59:53","modified_gmt":"2025-05-29T08:59:53","slug":"draw-the-lewis-structure-for-the-so32-ion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/2025\/05\/29\/draw-the-lewis-structure-for-the-so32-ion\/","title":{"rendered":"On a piece of scratch paper, draw the Lewis structure for the SO32 ion."},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>On a piece of scratch paper, draw the Lewis structure for the SO32 ion. Then choose the correct Lewis structure for SO3\u00b2 from the options listed below. (A) :O: :S: 0: :O: -2 (B) :O :S::O: :O: -2 (C) :O :S::O: :0: -2 (D) :O :S: 0: :O:<br>3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/image-521-1024x346.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-221163\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>On a piece of scratch paper, draw the Lewis structure for the SO32 ion. Then choose the correct Lewis structure for SO3\u00b2 from the options listed below. (A) :O: :S: 0: :0: -2 (B) :O :S::O: :O: -2 (C) :O :S::O: :0: -2 (D) :O :S: 0: :O:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-ast-global-color-1-color\">The Correct Answer and Explanation is:<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The correct Lewis structure for the sulfite ion SO32\u2212\\text{SO}_3^{2-} is <strong>option (B)<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u2705 Correct Answer: <strong>(B)<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\ud83d\udd0d Explanation <\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>To determine the correct Lewis structure of the sulfite ion SO32\u2212\\text{SO}_3^{2-}, we need to follow a systematic approach:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Step 1: Count Valence Electrons<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Sulfur (S) = 6 valence electrons<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Oxygen (O) = 6 \u00d7 3 = 18 valence electrons<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2 extra electrons for the \u22122-2 charge<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Total = 6 + 18 + 2 = 26 valence electrons<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Step 2: Connect the Atoms<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Sulfur is the central atom because it\u2019s less electronegative.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Connect the three oxygens to the sulfur with single bonds initially.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Step 3: Complete Octets<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Place lone pairs on the oxygen atoms to complete their octets.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Each single-bonded oxygen needs three lone pairs (6 electrons).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>This uses up 3\u00d76=183 \\times 6 = 18 electrons on the oxygens + 3\u00d72=63 \\times 2 = 6 electrons in bonds = 24 electrons.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>We have used 24 of 26 electrons so far. The remaining 2 electrons go on the sulfur atom as a lone pair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Step 4: Formal Charges<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>We want to minimize formal charges and distribute the negative charge over the most electronegative atoms (oxygen).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>In structure <strong>(B)<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>One oxygen is double bonded to sulfur (formal charge 0).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Two oxygens are single bonded and carry a -1 formal charge each.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Sulfur has a formal charge of 0.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>This gives a total charge of -2, which matches the ion\u2019s charge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Step 5: Resonance<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Although the drawing shows one double bond, in reality, SO32\u2212\\text{SO}_3^{2-} has <strong>resonance structures<\/strong>, meaning the double bond can be with any of the three oxygens, averaging bond character.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u2714 Conclusion:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Option <strong>(B)<\/strong> is correct because:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It uses the correct number of valence electrons.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It obeys the octet rule.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It minimizes formal charges.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It reflects proper resonance possibility<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/learnexams-banner4-98.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-221169\"\/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On a piece of scratch paper, draw the Lewis structure for the SO32 ion. Then choose the correct Lewis structure for SO3\u00b2 from the options listed below. (A) :O: :S: 0: :O: -2 (B) :O :S::O: :O: -2 (C) :O :S::O: :0: -2 (D) :O :S: 0: :O:3. On a piece of scratch paper, draw [&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-221162","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-exams-certification"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221162","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=221162"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221162\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=221162"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=221162"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=221162"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}