{"id":274985,"date":"2025-07-28T13:41:22","date_gmt":"2025-07-28T13:41:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/learnexams.com\/blog\/?p=274985"},"modified":"2025-07-28T13:41:28","modified_gmt":"2025-07-28T13:41:28","slug":"what-is-the-correct-lewis-structure-for-hypobromous-acid-hbro","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/2025\/07\/28\/what-is-the-correct-lewis-structure-for-hypobromous-acid-hbro\/","title":{"rendered":"What is the correct Lewis structure for hypobromous acid, HBrO"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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

The correct Lewis structure for hypobromous acid, HBrO, is the second option, which shows the atoms connected in the order H-O-Br.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here is a detailed explanation of why this structure is correct:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To determine the correct Lewis structure, we follow a systematic process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, we calculate the total number of valence electrons for the molecule. Hydrogen (H) is in Group 1 and has 1 valence electron. Oxygen (O) is in Group 16 and has 6 valence electrons. Bromine (Br) is in Group 17 and has 7 valence electrons. The total count is 1 + 6 + 7 = 14 valence electrons. Any valid Lewis structure must account for exactly 14 electrons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second, we determine the arrangement of the atoms. For oxyacids, which are acids containing hydrogen, oxygen, and another element, a very common and stable arrangement is for the acidic hydrogen atom to be bonded to an oxygen atom. This means the skeletal structure is H-O-Br, with oxygen as the central atom. This is a more stable configuration than having bromine as the central atom (H-Br-O).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Third, we place the electrons. We start by drawing single bonds to connect the atoms in the H-O-Br skeleton. Each single bond uses 2 electrons, so the two bonds (H-O and O-Br) use a total of 4 electrons. We have 14 – 4 = 10 electrons remaining.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fourth, we distribute the remaining electrons as lone pairs to satisfy the octet rule for each atom (or duet rule for hydrogen). We start with the outer atoms. Bromine needs 6 more electrons to complete its octet, so we add three lone pairs to it. This uses 6 of the remaining 10 electrons. We now have 4 electrons left. These final 4 electrons are placed on the central oxygen atom as two lone pairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This final structure, H-O-Br with two lone pairs on oxygen and three on bromine, satisfies all the rules. Hydrogen has a duet (2 electrons), oxygen has an octet (2 bonding pairs + 2 lone pairs = 8 electrons), and bromine has an octet (1 bonding pair + 3 lone pairs = 8 electrons). Furthermore, the formal charges for all atoms are zero, indicating a highly stable structure. The first option is incorrect because the connectivity is less likely, and the third is incorrect because hydrogen cannot have a lone pair as it violates the duet rule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

The Correct Answer and Explanation is: The correct Lewis structure for hypobromous acid, HBrO, is the second option, which shows the atoms connected in the order H-O-Br. Here is a detailed explanation of why this structure is correct: To determine the correct Lewis structure, we follow a systematic process. First, we calculate the total number […]<\/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-274985","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-exams-certification"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274985","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=274985"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274985\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=274985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=274985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=274985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}