A compound composed of only carbon and chlorine is 85.5% chlorine by mass. propose a lewis structure for the lightest of the pos

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A compound composed of only carbon and chlorine is 85.5% chlorine by mass. propose a lewis structure for the lightest of the pos

sible compounds that allows each atom to have a complete octet without formal charges. draw the molecule by placing atoms on the grid and connecting them with bonds. include all lone pairs of electrons.

Chemistry

2 answers:

lions [2.9K] · Answer 1 · 2026-02-28T00:55:36+03:00

$\boxed{{\text{CC}}{{\text{l}}_{\text{2}}}}$ represents the lightest compound formed in this scenario. Its schematic is included in the attached image.

More details:

Lewis structure:

This representation elucidates the connections between various atoms in covalent compounds through diagrams known as Lewis structures. These diagrams also indicate the presence of lone pairs within the molecule and are sometimes referred to as Lewis dot diagrams, electron dot diagrams, Lewis dot structures, or Lewis dot formulas. For covalent substances, factors such as geometry, polarity, and reactivity can be predicted using these diagrams.

Formal charge:

This refers to the charge an atom attains within a molecule when it is assumed that the chemical bonds are equitably distributed between the two atoms, regardless of their relative electronegativities.

Assuming a total mass of the compound to be 100 g.

The chlorine composition in the compound is 85.5%. Thus, it can be derived as follows:

${\text{Mass of chlorine}}=\left({\frac{{{\text{\% of chlorine}}}}{{{\text{100 \% }}}}}\right)\left({{\text{Mass of compound}}}\right)$ …………….(1)

Insert 85.5% for chlorine's percentage and 100 g for the compound’s mass into equation (1).

$\align{{\text{Mass of chlorine}}&=\left({\frac{{{\text{85}}{\text{.5 \% }}}}{{{\text{100\%}}}}}\right)\left({{\text{100g}}}\right)\cr&=85.5\;{\text{g}}\cr}$

Since the compound consists solely of carbon and chlorine, the total mass can be established using the formula:

${\text{Mass of compound}}={\text{Mass of carbon}}+{\text{Mass of chlorine}}$ …… (2)

Rearranging equation (2) aids in calculating the carbon mass.

${\text{Mass of carbon}}={\text{Mass of compound}}-{\text{Mass of chlorine}}$ …… (3)

The chlorine mass totals 85.5 g.

The total compound mass is 100 g.

Incorporate these figures into equation (3).

$\begin{aligned}\text{Mass of Carbon}&=100\text{ g}-85.5\text{ g}\\&=14.5\text{ g}\end{aligned}$

The formula to determine the moles of the compound is outlined as follows:

${\text{Number of moles}} = \frac{{{\text{Given mass}}}}{{{\text{Molar mass}}}}$ …… (4)

The chlorine mass given is 85.5 g.

The molar mass of chlorine is 35.45 g/mol.

Utilize these values in equation (4) to ascertain the chlorine moles within the compound.

$\align{{\text{Moles of chlorine}}&=\left({{\text{85}}{\text{.5 g}}}\right)\left({\frac{{{\text{1 mol}}}}{{{\text{35}}{\text{.45g}}}}}\right)\cr&={\bf{2}}{\bf{.41}}\;{\bf{mol}}\cr}$

For the carbon mass, it is 14.5 g.

The molar mass of carbon is 12 g/mol.

Incorporate these into equation (4) to determine carbon moles within the compound.

$\align{{\text{Moles of carbon}}&=\left({{\text{14}}{\text{.5g}}}\right)\left({\frac{{{\text{1 mol}}}}{{{\text{12g}}}}}\right)\cr&=1.208\;{\text{mol}}\cr&\approx{\bf{1}}{\bf{.21 mol}}\cr}$ …… (5)

The calculated amounts yield 2.41 mol of chlorine.

The molar ratio of carbon amounts to 1.21 mol.

Utilize these values in equation (5).

$\align{{\text{Required ratio}}&=\frac{{{\text{2}}{\text{.41 mol}}}}{{{\text{1}}{\text{.21 mol}}}}\cr&=1.99:1\cr&\approx{\bf{2:1}}\cr}$

The chlorine to carbon mole ratio is 2:1. Hence, the compound's formula is ${\bf{CC}}{{\bf{l}}_{\bf{2}}}$

Carbon features four valence electrons, forming two single bonds with two chlorine atoms. Each chlorine atom possesses seven valence electrons and binds with carbon to achieve atomic stability (see the structure in the attached image).

Explore more:

1. Do carbon dioxide and water share similar geometries?

2. Which molecule cannot be accurately represented by a singular Lewis structure?

Answer context:

Grade: Senior School

Subject: Chemistry

Chapter: Chemical bonding and molecular structure.

Keywords: Lewis structure, chlorine, carbon, 85.5 %, 100 %, 85.5 g, 14.5 g, CCl2, 2:1, formal charge, bonds, lone pairs, possible compounds, given mass, molar mass, 100 g, 35.45 g/mol, 12 g/mol.