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My title may be confusing, so let me explain. Let's take the molecule SO2 for example...

enter image description here

Above, you can see that the Sulfur atom has 6 electrons from its original valence shell involved in bonding/in a lone pair. However, if you add up these bonds, the atom has 10 electrons, not 8 (which disobeys the octet rule). I was told this is because sulfur has access to the d orbital of electrons. That makes sense, but why does it not get a 2- charge if it is getting 2 more electrons in it's valence shell?

Thanks!

Will

Will Spak
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  • It is not getting any extra electrons. Why would it? Where from? – Ivan Neretin Dec 04 '20 at 20:30
  • If this puzzles you, you can remove one of the two bonds between S and O and put it entirely on the oxygen atom which becomes negatively charged. The sulfur atom, having lost one electron, will then become positively charged, but it is now surrounded by 8 electrons. – Maurice Dec 04 '20 at 21:05

1 Answers1

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This is because covalent bonds are when electrons are SHARED BETWEEN THE ATOMS, not all given to 1 atom (that's an ionic bond). The sulfur may gain a partial charge (positive in this case), because more electronegative atoms hold electrons closer, but never a full charge.

The_CIA
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