Two reasonable Lewis structures are often drawn for the sulfate ion,
CHEMISTRY · Subjective · AP · Chemistry · Compound Structure and Properties · Compound Structure and Properties
Problem
Two reasonable Lewis structures are often drawn for the sulfate ion, SO42−.
• Structure A: All four S–O bonds are single; each oxygen atom has three lone pairs.
• Structure B: Two S–O bonds are single and two are double; all atoms have complete octets (sulfur uses an expanded valence shell).
Determine the formal charge on the sulfur atom in each structure and identify which structure better minimizes the magnitude of formal charges overall.