A deprotonated carboxylate ion is often represented by the following skeletal formula (written here in text):
```
O
||
CH3–C–O¯
```
The left end is a methyl group; the right-hand oxygen bears a negative charge. Respond to the tasks below.
(a) Draw a complete Lewis structure for the ion, explicitly showing all valence electrons, lone pairs, and formal charges.
(b) Generate every valid resonance structure for the ion. Use curved-arrow notation in your work (not required in the final answer) to show electron movement, and clearly label each resonance contributor.
(c) For each resonance structure, assign formal charges to every atom and determine the bond order for each C–O bond. Then state the experimentally observed C–O bond length trend and explain how your resonance analysis accounts for it.
(d) Write a condensed molecular formula for the ion and translate one of the resonance contributors into a line-angle structure that emphasizes delocalization (no lone pairs need be shown).