{"id":246971,"date":"2025-07-07T14:08:17","date_gmt":"2025-07-07T14:08:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/learnexams.com\/blog\/?p=246971"},"modified":"2025-07-07T14:08:19","modified_gmt":"2025-07-07T14:08:19","slug":"a-student-proposes-the-following-lewis-structure-for-the-nitronium-no2-ion-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/2025\/07\/07\/a-student-proposes-the-following-lewis-structure-for-the-nitronium-no2-ion-2\/","title":{"rendered":"A student proposes the following Lewis structure for the nitronium NO2+ ion"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A student proposes the following Lewis structure for the nitronium NO2+ ion. =N= Assign formal charge to each atom in the student’s Lewis structure. atom formal charge left 0 N right 0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Correct Answer and Explanation is:<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Correct Answer:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

atom<\/td>formal charge<\/td><\/tr>
left O<\/td>0<\/td><\/tr>
N<\/td>+1<\/td><\/tr>
right O<\/td>0<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Explanation:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To assign a formal charge to each atom in the Lewis structure, we use the following formula:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Formal Charge = (Valence Electrons) – (Non-bonding Electrons) – (1\/2 * Bonding Electrons)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, we determine the number of valence electrons for each element from its position on the periodic table. Oxygen (O) is in Group 16, so it has 6 valence electrons. Nitrogen (N) is in Group 15, so it has 5 valence electrons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Left Oxygen Atom:<\/strong>
In the provided structure, the left oxygen atom has 4 non-bonding electrons (two lone pairs) and participates in a double bond with nitrogen, which contains 4 bonding electrons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • )<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Formal Charge = 6 \u2013 4 \u2013 \u00bd(4) = 6 \u2013 4 \u2013 2 = 0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    2. Central Nitrogen Atom:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
    • Valence electrons for N = 5<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Non-bonding electrons = 0 (there are no lone pairs on the nitrogen atom)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Bonding electrons = 8 (from two double bonds, one to each oxygen atom)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Formal Charge = 5 \u2013 0 \u2013 \u00bd(8) = 5 \u2013 4 = +1<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

      3. Right Oxygen Atom:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

        \n
      • This atom is structurally identical to the left oxygen atom.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Valence electrons for O = 6<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Non-bonding electrons = 4 (from two lone pairs)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Bonding electrons = 4 (from the double bond)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Formal Charge = 6 \u2013 4 \u2013 \u00bd(4) = 6 \u2013 4 \u2013 2 = 0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

        Finally, we can check our work. The sum of the formal charges of all atoms in an ion must equal the overall charge of the ion. In this case, the sum is 0 (for the left O) + (+1) (for N) + 0 (for the right O) = +1. This matches the +1 charge of the nitronium ion, confirming our assignments are correct.Formal Charge = 6 (valence) – 4 (non-bonding) – (1\/2 * 4) (bonding)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          \n
        • Formal Charge = 6 – 4 – 2 =\u00a00<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

          2. Central Nitrogen Atom:<\/strong>
          The central nitrogen atom has no non-bonding electrons (no lone pairs). It forms two double bonds, one with each oxygen atom, for a total of 8 bonding electrons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            \n
          • Formal Charge = 5 (valence) – 0 (non-bonding) – (1\/2 * 8) (bonding)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Formal Charge = 5 – 0 – 4 =\u00a0+1<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

            3. Right Oxygen Atom:<\/strong>
            The right oxygen atom is structurally identical to the left one. It has 4 non-bonding electrons and 4 bonding electrons from its double bond with nitrogen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

              \n
            • Formal Charge = 6 (valence) – 4 (non-bonding) – (1\/2 * 4) (bonding)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
            • Formal Charge = 6 – 4 – 2 =\u00a00<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

              As a final check, the sum of all formal charges in the ion should equal its<\/p>\n\n\n\n

              \"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

              A student proposes the following Lewis structure for the nitronium NO2+ ion. =N= Assign formal charge to each atom in the student’s Lewis structure. atom formal charge left 0 N right 0 The Correct Answer and Explanation is: Correct Answer: atom formal charge left O 0 N +1 right O 0 Explanation: To assign a […]<\/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-246971","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-exams-certification"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246971","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=246971"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246971\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=246971"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=246971"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=246971"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}