Lewis Structures: Which is the better Lewis structure?

Modified from Moog and Farrell, 2015

Model 1: Two possible Lewis structures for CO2

O=C =O

O-C=O

1. Complete the following table for the two structures of carbon dioxide in Model 1.
Structure 1

Structure 2

Total number of
electrons in the
Lewis structure
Number of
electrons around
the carbon atom
Number of
electrons around
the left oxygen
atom
Number of
electrons around
the right oxygen
atom
2. Based on your answers above, is each proposed structure in Model 1 a legitimate Lewis
structure for carbon dioxide? Explain why or why not.

3. Experimentally, we find that both C O bonds in CO2 are identical. The C O bond energy
in CO2 is 804 kJ/mole for each C O bond; that is it requires 804 kJ to break one mole of
C-O bonds in CO2. Based on these experimental results, which Lewis structure, 1 or 2,
provides a better description of CO2? Explain your reasoning.

Section 9.8 Formal Charge

Learning Objective: Calculate formal charge on atoms in a Lewis structure.
Formal charge
is the charge an atom would have if each bonding electron pair in the molecule were shared
equally between the bonded atoms (in other words, the calculated charge for an atom if the
effects of electronegativity are ignored).

The purpose of Lewis structures is to provide a simple model from which predictions about
molecular structure could be made. Sometimes as we have seen for CO2, there is more than one
possible Lewis structure for a molecule. The concept of formal charge has been found useful for
determining the best (most useful) Lewis structure for a molecule. Formal charge is a fictitious
charge assigned to each atom in a Lewis structure that helps us to select the better Lewis
structure. Formal charges are assigned to atoms in molecules according to a set of rules.

Formal Charge Equation

Formal charge = # of valence electrons (# of nonbonding electrons + # bonding electrons)

Group #

The # of electrons the atom owns in the Lewis

structure.

Formal charge rules:

The sum of all formal charges on a neutral molecule must be zero.

The sum of all formal charges on an ion must be equal to the charge of the ion.
Small (or zero) formal charges on individual atoms are better than large ones.
When formal charge cannot be avoided, negative formal charge should reside on the most
electronegative atom.
The predominant/or best structure of a molecule is the one (or ones with
resonance structures) with formal charges as close to zero as possible

Assign formal charges to the two structures of carbon dioxide in Model 1. Based on the concept of
formal charge, determine which structure of carbon dioxide is the better Lewis structure (1 or 2)?
Explain your reasoning.

O=C =O

O-C=O

Problem Use formal charges to determine which of the two Lewis structures is better: