Question

Which of the following statements regarding the concept of resonance is not correct?

• A. The different resonating structures of a molecule have fixed arrangement of atomic nuclei.
• B. The different resonating structure differ in the arrangement of electrons.
• C. None of the individual resonating structures explains the various characteristics of the molecule.
• D. The hybrid structures have equal contribution from all the resonating structures.

Answer 1

The correct option is D The hybrid structures have equal contribution from all the resonating structures.

The hybrid structures need not have equal contribution from all the resonating structures. For example, the resonance structures without charge separation have greater contribution to hybrid than the resonance structures with charge separation. Also the resonance structures with conjugate double bonds have greater contribution to hybrid than the resonance structures with isolated double bonds.