Phosphorus oxychloride has the chemical formula pocl3, with p as the central atom. in order to minimize formal charge, how many bonds does phosphorus make to the other atoms in the molecule?
(count each single bond as one, each double bond as two, and each triple bond as three).

a) 3 b) 4 c) 5 d) 6 e) 7

Phosphorus makes 5 bonds with other atoms

Explanation:

has total 32 number of valence electrons (P has 5 , O has 6 and Cl has 7 valence electrons).

These valence electrons are used to draw Lewis structure of .

Formal charge on an atom = (no. of valence electrons of the atom)-(no. of covalent bonds attached to the atom)-(no. of electrons in lone pair of the atom)

Applying octet rule (atoms have eight electrons in their valence shell) and minimizing formal charge of , it has been found that P makes total 5 bonds with rest of the atoms.

Lewis structure of along with formal charge (in parentheses) has been given below.

answer : one can design an experiment using a liquid and an additive that can be added to the liquid and observe the chemical changes in the reaction species.

one would need a beaker which is filled with a known amount of the liquid in which thermometer is placed to measure the temperature changes; after addition of the additive to the liquid solution one can note down the temperature change and find whether the reaction is endothermic or exothermic in nature. by subtracting the initial temperature value with the final temperature one can find the temperature changes.

various combinations of liquid and additive can be used. liquid in this case can be a known quantity of water and additives can be epsom salt or without epsom salt the experiment can be conducted to notice the changes. water and ice, hydrogen peroxide and dry yeast, vinegar and baking soda,etc.