PPT Slide

21

Atoms expand their valence shells to form more bonds and minimize formal charges.

• In the sulfate ion, SO 4 2–, all the sulfur-oxygen bonds are 149 pm long, intermediate between S–O and S=O lengths.

• Each sulfur-oxygen bond has a bond order of 1.5 .

• The sulfur-oxygen bonds in SO 2 and SO 3 have near S=O bond  lengths (142 pm); Lewis structures for these molecules are:

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