Chemistry / Chem 1000 · Atom · ~20 seconds
Formal Charge, Defined
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A formal charge is the charge an atom would carry in a Lewis structure if every bonding pair were divided equally between its atoms.
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Nitrogen forming four bonds with no lone pair carries a formal charge of +1 in that structure.
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Formal charge is a bookkeeping device for one drawn structure, not the atom's real, measured charge.