To determine the number of valence electrons in SO2, we add the valence electrons of each atom:
- Sulfur (S): 6 valence electrons
- Oxygen (O) x 2: 2 x 6 = 12 valence electrons
In total, SO2 has 6 + 12 = 18 valence electrons.
However, the Lewis structure shows 24 valence electrons because each double bond between sulfur and oxygen contributes two more electrons to the structure, and there are two double bonds. So 18 + 6 = 24 valence electrons.
