Consider the Lewis structure of the nitrate ion ( NO₃⁻ ) in which the central nitrogen atom (labelled as 1) is double-bonded to one oxygen atom and single-bonded to two other oxygen atoms. Each single-bonded oxygen atom (one of which is labelled as 2) possesses three lone pairs of electrons, and the central nitrogen atom has no lone pairs. What are the formal charges on atom 1 and atom 2 respectively?

Step-by-step solution

The formal charge (FC) on an atom in a Lewis structure is calculated as: FC = V - L - S 2 where V is the number of valence electrons, L is the number of non-bonding electrons, and S is the number of shared (bonding) electrons. For the central nitrogen atom (atom 1): Valence electrons ( V ) = 5 Non-bonding electrons ( L ) = 0 Shared electrons ( S ) = 8 (from 4 bonds) FC₁ = 5 - 0 - 8 2 = +1 For the single-bonded oxygen atom (atom 2): Valence electrons ( V ) = 6 Non-bonding electrons ( L ) = 6 (from 3 lone pairs) Shar