Co

[lilietta2000]

in CO ,why is the partial negative charge on carbon instead of O???

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[laundry]

to satisfy the octed rule, there should be a triple bond between C and O. since O has 6 valence electrons and C has 4, then C will have a partial - and O will have a partial positive.

Draw the structure with unpaired electrons, you'll see.

 

[laundry]

btw, nice Dali avatar.

 

[lilietta2000]

Thanks dear laundry

 

[andyjl]

with a triple bond between C and O. Both the C and the O have a lone electron pair, so how does the C end up with a partial negative charge?

 

[lilietta2000]

In the valence bond notation (Lewis structure) that corresponds to the structure on the left. Here the oxygen (the more electronegative element) has a formal positive charge. Of course, there are other resonance structures that can be drawn for CO: the double-bonded structure without formal charges and the singly-bonded structure that has a formal positive charge on carbon and a negative charge on oxygen (in agreement with the atomic electronegativities). Note, however, that in these two structures the octet rule is not satisfied for the carbon atom.​

woww trhat mAkes sense!