High School

Write any formal charges not equal to zero for a molecule containing 4 hydrogen atoms, 2 carbon atoms, and 1 nitrogen atom.

Answer :

Final answer:

For a molecule containing 4 hydrogen, 2 carbon, and 1 nitrogen atoms, typical structures (like ethylamine) would not have any formal charges. Other configurations could introduce formal charges on nitrogen, depending on its bonding.

Explanation:

The question asks to write any formal charges that are not equal to zero for a molecule containing 4 hydrogen atoms, 2 carbon atoms, and 1 nitrogen atom. The scenario described fits a molecule such as ethylamine (C2H5NH2), considering the given atom counts. In typical bonding scenarios, carbon and hydrogen atoms don't carry formal charges when they are in their common bonding configurations: carbon with four bonds (no lone pairs) and hydrogen with one bond (no lone pairs). For nitrogen, if it has three bonds and a lone pair (as it does in amines like ethylamine), it carries a formal charge of zero.

However, if nitrogen forms four bonds (and has no lone pairs), like in the ammonium ion (NH4+), it carries a formal charge of +1. Since the exact structure isn't explicitly provided, for a general case with these atom counts, we can infer scenarios. In molecules like ethylamine, there would be no formal charges not equal to zero. However, introducing different bonding, such as in an ammonium derivative (not directly supported by the atom count provided but illustrative of the concept), nitrogen would have a formal charge of +1.