Explain why ion cannot be represented by a single Lewis structure. How can it be best represented?
A single Lewis structure of ion cannot explain all the properties of this ion. It can be represented as a resonance hybrid of the following structures.
If, it were represented only by one structure, there should be two types of bonds, i.e., C=O double bond and C-O single bonds but actually all bonds are found to be identical with same bond length and same bond strength.
