Explain why ${\rm{CO}}_3^{2 - }$ ion cannot be represented by a single Lewis structure. How can it be best represented ?
A single Lewis structure of $\mathrm{CO}_{3}^{2-}$ ion cannot explain all the properties of this ion. It can be represented as a resonance hybrid of the following structures
If, it were represented only by one structure, there should be two types of bonds, i.e., $\mathrm{C}=\mathrm{O}$ double bond and $\mathrm{C}-\mathrm{O}$ single bonds but actually all bonds are found to be identical with same bond length and same bond strength.
Among the species : $C{O_2},C{H_3}CO{O^ - },$ $CO,C{O_3}^{2 - },$ $HCHO$ which has the weakest carbon- oxygen bond
The number of possible resonance structures for $CO_3^{2 - }$is
Resonance is due to
${{\rm{H}}_3}{\rm{P}}{{\rm{O}}_3}$ can be represented by structure $1$ and $2$ shown below. Can these two structures be taken as the canonical forms of the resonance hybrid representing ${{\rm{H}}_3}{\rm{P}}{{\rm{O}}_3}$ ? If not, give reasons for the same.
All the $( \mathrm{C -O} )$ bonds in carbonate ion $\left( {{\rm{CO}}_3^{2 - }} \right)$ are equal in length. - Explain.