Consider the sulfur dioxide ( SO₂ ) molecule. Assuming the Lewis structure that strictly obeys the octet rule, what are the formal charge and the hybridization of the central sulfur atom respectively?

Step-by-step solution

The total number of valence electrons in SO₂ is 6 + 2 6 = 18 . To strictly obey the octet rule, the Lewis structure of SO₂ must have one double bond and one single bond between the central sulfur atom and the oxygen atoms, with one lone pair on the sulfur atom. The structure can be represented as O=S-O (with two lone pairs on the double-bonded oxygen and three lone pairs on the single-bonded oxygen). The formal charge (FC) is calculated as: FC = ( Valence electrons ) - ( Non-bonding electrons ) - Bonding electrons