Question

How many equivalent Lewis structures are necessary to describe the bonding in CH3COO-?

Answer 1

Number of equivalent Lewis structures that are necessary to describe the bonding in CH3COO- is 2(two).

It can be justified that there are two equivalent Lewis structures to describe the bonding of CH3COO- acetate ion as:

• Equivalent Lewis structure: Equivalent Lewis structure is also known as resonance structure.
• This structure is used to describe the bonding of a molecule when there is more than one way to place or arrange the lone pair of electrons and the double bonds in the compound.
• Resonance structure is formed for molecule or compound when more ways of demonstrating the Lewis dot structure on satisfying the octet rule.
• a resonance structure is very important for describing the distribution of chemical bonding in a molecule.
• There is three Lewis structure for describing the CH3COO- bonding, but only 2 of them are the major equivalent resonance structure, which is valid equivalent Lewis structures.
• Resonance structures are also called resonance canonicals.