What is the Charge of O3 (Ozone)? And Why?

The Charge of O3 (Ozone) is 0.

But the question is how can you say that the charge on O3 (Ozone) is 0?

Well you can say this by calculating its formal charge.

So let’s calculate the formal charge of O3 (Ozone).

If you are a visual learner like me, then here is a short two minute video for you.

Calculating the formal charge of O3 using lewis structure

In order to calculate the formal charge on O3 (Ozone), you should know the Lewis dot structure of O3 (Ozone).

Here is the lewis structure of O3.

Now using the above lewis structure of O3, you have to find the formal charge on each atom that is present in the O3 molecule.

For calculating the formal charge, you need to remember this formula;

Formal charge = Valence electrons – Nonbonding electrons – (Bonding electrons)/2

You can see the bonding and nonbonding electrons of O3 from the image given below.

So now let’s calculate the formal charge on each individual atom present in O3.

Formal charge on left Oxygen atom:
Valence electron = 6 (as it is in group 16 on periodic table) ^[1]
Nonbonding electrons = 4
Bonding electrons = 4

So according to the formula of formal charge, you will get;

Formal charge on left Oxygen = Valence electrons – Nonbonding electrons – (Bonding electrons)/2 = 6 – 4 – (4/2) = 0

So the formal charge on left oxygen atom is 0.

Formal charge on central Oxygen atom:
Valence electron = 6 (as it is in group 16 on periodic table)
Nonbonding electrons = 2
Bonding electrons = 6

So according to the formula of formal charge, you will get;

Formal charge on central Oxygen = Valence electrons – Nonbonding electrons – (Bonding electrons)/2 = 6 – 2 – (6/2) = 1+

So the formal charge on central oxygen atom is 1+.

Formal charge on right Oxygen atom:
Valence electron = 6 (as it is in group 16 on periodic table)
Nonbonding electrons = 6
Bonding electrons = 2

So according to the formula of formal charge, you will get;

Formal charge on right Oxygen = Valence electrons – Nonbonding electrons – (Bonding electrons)/2 = 6 – 6 – (2/2) = 1-

So the formal charge on right oxygen atom is 1-.

Now let’s put all these charges on the lewis dot structure of O3.

So there is overall 0 charge left on the entire molecule.

This indicates that the O3 (Ozone) has 0 charge.

I hope you have understood the above calculations of O3 (Ozone). 

Check out some other related topics for your practice.

Related topics:
Charge of Neon (Ne)
Charge on IO3 (Iodate ion)
Charge of Argon (Ar)
Charge of Scandium (Sc)
Charge of Platinum (Pt)