Question #91c74

1 Answer
Jan 5, 2018

This is one of #SO_2#'s major resonance forms,

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where we assume that the sulfur atom has one lone pair of electrons.

And this is #SO_3#'s Lewis structure,

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where sulfur has an expanded octet due to its more broad range of orbitals.

Notice that each central sulfur atom has three substituents in its orbitals: #SO_2# two oxygen atoms and a lone pair, and #SO_3# three oxygen atoms.

Hence, each sulfur atom's orbitals hybridize into three #"sp"^2# and one #"p"# orbital remains.