User:Pgpotvin/Sandbox
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other uses, see Resonance (disambiguation).
Resonance in chemistry is the depiction of a molecule as a hybrid of conventional Lewis structures that differ only in the placement of the valence electrons, when no single Lewis structure is adequate to describe its true structure and properties. The Lewis structures in resonance situations are inadequate and inaccurate because they do not exist as such, and do not exist as such because they are less stable than the hybrid.
Example
Resonance is depicted using a double-headed arrow ()[1] between pairs of Lewis structures and, to emphasize that only one structure is meant, the group of Lewis structures can be placed within large square brackets. |