Question #91c74

1 Answer
Jan 5, 2018

This is one of SO2's major resonance forms,

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

And this is SO3'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: SO2 two oxygen atoms and a lone pair, and SO3 three oxygen atoms.

Hence, each sulfur atom's orbitals hybridize into three sp2 and one p orbital remains.