ΓΌ Formal Charge: A formal charge (FC) is
the charge assigned to an atom in a molecule. When determining the best Lewis Structure for a molecule,
the structure is chosen such that the formal charge on each of the atoms is as
close to zero as possible.
Formula to Calculate Formal Charge:
Uses of Formal Charge:
1. The
formal charge being a theoretical
charge doesn’t indicate any real charge separation in the molecule.
2. Formal charges help in the selection of the
lowest energy structure from a number of possible Lewis structures for a given species.
3. Knowledge
of the lowest energy structure helps in predicting the major product of a
reaction and also describes a lot of phenomena.
4. Generally,
the lowest energy structure is
the one with the smallest formal charges on the atoms and the most
distributed charge.
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