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QuestionChemistry

draw the lewis structure for chlorate (ClO3^-). for this structure, give each atom an octet and do not include a formal charge
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Step 1:
: Draw the skeletal structure of the chlorate ion (ClO^3 -).

Place the central atom, chlorine (Cl), in the center and add three oxygen (O) atoms around it.

Step 2:
: Add bonds between atoms.

Draw single bonds between the chlorine atom and each oxygen atom.

Step 3:
: Complete the octets for all atoms.

Since each oxygen atom already has 2 electrons from the single bond with chlorine, we only need to add 6 more electrons around each oxygen atom to complete their octets. We will add these electrons as lone pairs.

Step 4:
: Calculate formal charges (even though the problem states not to include them).

Formal charge is calculated as: For chlorine, it has 7 valence electrons. It forms 3 bonds, so it has 6 bonding electrons. It has no non-bonding electrons. For each oxygen atom, it has 6 valence electrons. It forms 1 bond, so it has 2 bonding electrons. It has 4 non-bonding electrons (2 lone pairs).

Step 5:
: Check that all atoms have octets.

Chlorine has 7 electrons around it (6 from the bonds and 1 lone pair). Oxygen has 8 electrons around it (2 from the bond and 6 lone pairs).

Step 6:
: Draw the Lewis structure for the chlorate ion (ClO^3 -).

Final Answer

The Lewis structure for the chlorate ion (ClO^3 -) is: \begin{array}{cccc} & & \text{O} & \ & \text{O} & | & \text{Cl} \ \text{O} & | & & \ & & & \end{array} Each line represents a single bond, and each vertex represents an electron pair (bonding or lone pair). The chlorate ion has a + 1 formal charge on the chlorine atom and a 0 formal charge on the oxygen atoms. However, these formal charges are not included in the problem's requirements.