Question

Find the number of electron bonds in H2SO4.

Answer 1

To determine the number of electron bonds in sulfuric acid (H₂SO₄), we analyze its Lewis structure.

Step 1: Lewis Structure Overview

The Lewis structure of H₂SO₄ includes:

• Two hydroxyl groups (–OH), each forming a single bond between hydrogen and oxygen.
• One sulfur atom (S) centrally bonded to four oxygen atoms.
• Among the four S–O bonds:
  • Two are single bonds (S–O), one to each –OH group.
  • Two are double bonds (S=O), with two other oxygen atoms.

Step 2: Count All Electron Bonds

Each bond represents a shared pair of electrons between two atoms. We'll count the following:

• 2 O–H single bonds (from the two –OH groups)
• 2 S–O single bonds (to the –OH groups)
• 2 S=O double bonds (each double bond counts as 2 electron pairs or 2 bonds)

Calculation:

Total electron bonds = 2 (O–H single bonds) + 2 (S–O single bonds) + 2 × 2 (S=O double bonds) = 2 + 2 + 4 = 8 electron bonds

Final Answer: H₂SO₄ contains a total of 8 electron bonds.

Note: Sometimes confusion arises because double bonds involve 2 pairs of electrons. If you're simply counting total "connections" or sigma+pi bonds, you'd count each single bond as 1 and each double bond as 2.