Input interpretation
nitrous acid
Chemical names and formulas
formula | HNO_2 name | nitrous acid alternate names | dioxonitric acid | nitrite | nitrosyl hydroxide mass fractions | H (hydrogen) 2.14% | N (nitrogen) 29.8% | O (oxygen) 68.1%
Lewis structure
Draw the Lewis structure of nitrous acid. Start by drawing the overall structure of the molecule, ignoring potential double and triple bonds: Count the total valence electrons of the hydrogen (n_H, val = 1), nitrogen (n_N, val = 5), and oxygen (n_O, val = 6) atoms: n_H, val + n_N, val + 2 n_O, val = 18 Calculate the number of electrons needed to completely fill the valence shells for hydrogen (n_H, full = 2), nitrogen (n_N, full = 8), and oxygen (n_O, full = 8): n_H, full + n_N, full + 2 n_O, full = 26 Subtracting these two numbers shows that 26 - 18 = 8 bonding electrons are needed. Each bond has two electrons, so in addition to the 3 bonds already present in the diagram add 1 bond. To minimize formal charge oxygen wants 2 bonds and nitrogen wants 3 bonds. Identify the atoms that want additional bonds and the number of electrons remaining on each atom: Fill in the 1 bond by pairing electrons between adjacent highlighted atoms: Answer: | |
3D structure
3D structure
Basic properties
molar mass | 47.013 g/mol
Units
Chemical identifiers
CAS number | 7782-77-6 PubChem CID number | 24529 SMILES identifier | N(=O)O InChI identifier | InChI=1S/HNO2/c2-1-3/h(H, 2, 3)