Valence Electrons of ClO2+: A Comprehensive Guide

[ikihi]

1. Homework Statement

ClO₂⁺ ion:

A. How many total valance electrons does this ion have?
B. Which atom is the central atom?
C. How many bonding electrons are there between the central atom and each of the other atoms?
D. How many nonbonding electrons are there on the central atom?

2. Homework Equations

3. The Attempt at a Solution

i think ClO₂⁺ has 32 electrons total? (cl-17e, 2O-16e and subtract 1 electron for the positive charge?)
The electron configuration would then be 1s2 2s2 3p6 4s2 3d10 4p6 5s2 4d2 ?

A. 2 valence e- from the 5s2? (im confused about whether it includes the 4 or 5 shells)
B.Cl is the central atom?
C. ?
D. ?

 

[Abhilash H N]

Let us start from the central atom, and you are right, chlorine is the one.
And I found this structure on the net

, It is the image of ClO₂F which is an ionic compound of given ion and flouride.
About the valence electrons: The electronic configuration is wrong. Because we cannot treat the ion as an atom. The correct one is given by molecular orbital theory, I think that is not necessary here. And I am still confused about the question A. If it means the total of all valence electrons then it will be,
4 (from Cl) + 2×2 (from 2 Oxygen atoms)=8 electrons
C:from the figure, there are actually 4 bonds between the oxygen and chlorine atoms. so we have,
2×4=8 bonding electrons.
D:from the figure, 4 electrons of chlorine are involved in bonding, and 1 electron is missing since it has +ve charge. So we have,
17-4-1= 12 nonbonding electrons.