{"id":266714,"date":"2025-07-23T06:39:16","date_gmt":"2025-07-23T06:39:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/learnexams.com\/blog\/?p=266714"},"modified":"2025-07-23T06:39:18","modified_gmt":"2025-07-23T06:39:18","slug":"what-is-the-molecular-geometry-of-s-in-the-structure-of-sulfite-ion-acid-so32","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/2025\/07\/23\/what-is-the-molecular-geometry-of-s-in-the-structure-of-sulfite-ion-acid-so32\/","title":{"rendered":"What is the molecular geometry of S In the structure of sulfite ion acid SO3^2"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What is the molecular geometry of S In the structure of sulfite ion acid SO3^2-? Linear. Bent. Trigonal planar. Trigonal pyramid. Tetrahedral<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

The molecular geometry of the sulfite ion (SO\u2083\u00b2\u207b) is trigonal planar<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To explain this, let’s first look at the bonding and structure of the sulfite ion:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Electron Configuration and Lewis Structure<\/strong>: The sulfite ion has a sulfur atom (S) centrally located, surrounded by three oxygen atoms (O). The sulfur atom has an oxidation state of +4, and the three oxygen atoms are bonded to it, each with a formal charge of -1. This creates a resonance structure, meaning the double bonds are delocalized and spread equally among the three S-O bonds.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Valence Electrons and Electron Pair Geometry<\/strong>: Sulfur, in its +4 oxidation state, has 4 valence electrons. Each oxygen atom contributes 6 valence electrons, but because of the negative charge on the ion, there are two additional electrons, giving a total of 24 valence electrons. The ion\u2019s electron geometry is determined by the repulsion between the bonding pairs of electrons.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. VSEPR Theory<\/strong>: According to the Valence Shell Electron Pair Repulsion (VSEPR) theory, the electron pairs around the sulfur atom will arrange themselves to minimize electron-electron repulsion. With three bonding pairs and no lone pairs on the central sulfur atom, the most favorable arrangement is trigonal planar<\/strong>. This means the bond angles between the oxygen atoms are approximately 120\u00b0.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. Resonance and Delocalization<\/strong>: Since the ion exhibits resonance, where the double bond character is spread across all three S-O bonds, the bond angles remain consistent and symmetric, further confirming the trigonal planar geometry.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    In summary, the sulfite ion has a trigonal planar<\/strong> molecular geometry, with the sulfur atom at the center and the oxygen atoms arranged symmetrically around it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

    What is the molecular geometry of S In the structure of sulfite ion acid SO3^2-? Linear. Bent. Trigonal planar. Trigonal pyramid. Tetrahedral The Correct Answer and Explanation is: The molecular geometry of the sulfite ion (SO\u2083\u00b2\u207b) is trigonal planar. To explain this, let’s first look at the bonding and structure of the sulfite ion: In […]<\/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-266714","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-exams-certification"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266714","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=266714"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266714\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=266714"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=266714"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=266714"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}