What is the charge, and Lewis structure of the nitrate anion?

1 Answer
anor277
Mar 20, 2016

The nitrate ion, #NO_3^-#, has a SINGLE, FORMAL negative charge.

Explanation:

The sum of the individual oxidation numbers will be the charge on the ion. We thus have #N^(V+)+3xxO^(-II) = -I# as required. Note that Lewis structure of nitrate anion shows formal charge on THREE of the FOUR participating atoms: a positive charge on the central (quaternized) nitrogen atom, and negative charges on TWO of the oxygen atoms.

The Lewis structure is usually depicted as #(O=)stackrel(+)N(-O^(-))_2#, which bears a formal negative charge as required.

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