Resonance (My Second to last post!!!:))

So we all get covalent bonding now? As I detailed in my last post, there some easy ways to draw the Lewis Dot Diagram (click the link or scroll down the blog for the deets). However, just when we think everything is hunky-dory, Liebs decides to throw a big ole monkey wrench in the mix. And while Resonance isn't rocket surgery, it can still seem a bit complicated. To make it less complicated, I will give you a great song about a great dancer that has absolutely no revelance to chemistry whatsoever:


Keep the jeep rolling people! Now, back to resonance. For an overview, the Wikipedia is a good starter:

In chemistry, resonance or mesomerism [1] is a way of describing delocalized electrons within certain molecules or polyatomic ions where the bonding cannot be expressed by one single Lewis formula. A molecule or ion with such delocalized electrons is represented by several contributing structures

A few of these words may be a bit complicated. Therefor, I will expand upon it in a simpler manner:
Basically, Resonance happens when there are two different bond types when between 3 or more atoms of 2 elements. For example, let's say you have the element NO2-. Well, if you did the Lewis dot structure, you would get this result:

Notice that there is one double bond, and one single bond. Well, for reasons unbeknown to me, this is not how the element really exists. Instead, they exist in a way that is "in between" (Liebs described it as "one and a half" so it's easier to visualize, though it is not technically one and a half). Therefor, this is how they should be drawn:

Well, that's what we learned today. For the remaining time, we were generously given time to work on our worksheets. Whether you used it wisely (and you can assume if I did or not) is up to you. So basically yeah. I'll be back tomorrow. Stay Classy HCPER61011.