What is the total number of electrons in a superoxide ion, #O_2^-#?

1 Answer
anor277
Mar 3, 2017

Well, we start with an oxygen molecule, #O_2#.......

Explanation:

Now dioxygen, #O=O#, has 16 electrons. How do we know this? For oxygen, #Z=8#, and thus neutral #O_2# necessarily has #"16 electrons"#. And thus #"superoxide"# MUST have #"17 electrons...."#

I'd try to represent this as a Lewis structure, but not on this editor. Try to do this yourself on paper as an exercise.

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