AsO4 3- Lewis Structure in 5 Steps (With Images)

So you have seen the above image by now, right?

Let me explain the above image in short.

AsO4 3- lewis structure has an Arsenic atom (As) at the center which is surrounded by four Oxygen atoms (O). There is 1 double bond and 3 single bonds between the Arsenic atom (As) and each Oxygen atom (O). There are 2 lone pairs on double bonded Oxygen atom (O) and 3 lone pairs on single bonded Oxygen atom (O).

If you haven’t understood anything from the above image of AsO4 3- lewis structure, then just stick with me and you will get the detailed step by step explanation on drawing a lewis structure of AsO4^3- ion.

So let’s move to the steps of drawing the lewis structure of AsO4^3- ion.

Steps of drawing AsO4 3- lewis structure

Step 1: Find the total valence electrons in AsO4 3- ion

In order to find the total valence electrons in AsO4 3- ion, first of all you should know the valence electrons present in arsenic atom as well as oxygen atom.
(Valence electrons are the electrons that are present in the outermost orbit of any atom.)

Here, I’ll tell you how you can easily find the valence electrons of arsenic as well as oxygen using a periodic table.

Total valence electrons in AsO4 3- ion

→ Valence electrons given by arsenic atom:

Arsenic is a group 15 element on the periodic table. ^[1] Hence the valence electrons present in arsenic is 5.

You can see the 5 valence electrons present in the arsenic atom as shown in the above image.

→ Valence electrons given by oxygen atom:

Oxygen is group 16 element on the periodic table. ^[2] Hence the valence electrons present in oxygen is 6.

You can see the 6 valence electrons present in the oxygen atom as shown in the above image.

Hence, 

Total valence electrons in AsO4^3- ion = valence electrons given by 1 arsenic atom + valence electrons given by 4 oxygen atoms + 3 more electrons are added due to 3 negative charges = 5 + 6(4) + 3 = 32.

Step 2: Select the central atom

For selecting the center atom, you have to remember that the atom which is less electronegative remains at the center.

Now here the given ion is AsO4 3- ion and it contains arsenic atom (As) and oxygen atoms (O).

You can see the electronegativity values of arsenic atom (As) and oxygen atom (O) in the above periodic table.

If we compare the electronegativity values of arsenic (As) and oxygen (O) then the arsenic atom is less electronegative.

So here the arsenic atom (As) is the center atom and the oxygen atoms (O) are the outside atoms.

Step 3: Connect each atoms by putting an electron pair between them

Now in the AsO4 molecule, you have to put the electron pairs between the arsenic atom (As) and oxygen atoms (O).

This indicates that the arsenic (As) and oxygen (O) are chemically bonded with each other in a AsO4 molecule.

Step 4: Make the outer atoms stable

Now in this step, you have to check the stability of the outer atoms.

Here in the sketch of AsO4 molecule, you can see that the outer atoms are oxygen atoms.

These outer oxygen atoms are forming an octet and hence they are stable. 

Also, in step 1 we have calculated the total number of valence electrons present in the AsO4^3- ion.

The AsO4^3- ion has a total 32 valence electrons and all these valence electrons are used in the above sketch.

Hence there are no remaining electron pairs to be kept on the central atom. 

So now let’s proceed to the next step.

Step 5: Check the stability of lewis structure

Now you have come to the final step in which you have to check the stability of lewis structure of AsO4^3- ion.

The stability of lewis structure can be checked by using a concept of formal charge.

In short, now you have to find the formal charge on arsenic (As) atom as well as oxygen (O) atoms present in the AsO4 molecule.

For calculating the formal charge, you have to use the following formula;

Formal charge = Valence electrons – (Bonding electrons)/2 – Nonbonding electrons

You can see the number of bonding electrons and nonbonding electrons for each atom of AsO4 molecule in the image given below.

For Arsenic (As) atom:
Valence electrons = 5 (because arsenic is in group 15)
Bonding electrons = 8
Nonbonding electrons = 0

For Oxygen (O) atom:
Valence electrons = 6 (because oxygen is in group 16)
Bonding electrons = 2
Nonbonding electrons = 6

From the above calculations of formal charge, you can see that the arsenic (As) atom has +1 charge while the oxygen atom has -1 charge.

So let’s keep these charges on the respective atoms of the AsO4 molecule.

The above image shows that the lewis structure of AsO4 is not stable.

So we have to minimize these charges by shifting the electron pair from the oxygen atom to the arsenic atom.

After shifting the electron pair from the oxygen atom to the arsenic atom, the charges on arsenic and one oxygen atom becomes zero. And this is a more stable lewis structure. (see below image).

There are three -ve charges left on the oxygen atoms, which gives -3 formal charge on the AsO4 molecule. This overall -3 charge on the AsO4 molecule is represented in the image given below.

In the above lewis dot structure of AsO4 3- ion, you can also represent each bonding electron pair (:) as a single bond (|). By doing so, you will get the following lewis structure of AsO4 3- ion.

I hope you have completely understood all the above steps.

For more practice and better understanding, you can try other lewis structures listed below.

Try (or at least See) these lewis structures for better understanding:

About author

Jay Rana

Jay is an educator and has helped more than 100,000 students in their studies by providing simple and easy explanations on different science-related topics. He is a founder of Pediabay and is passionate about helping students through his easily digestible explanations.

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