Exams › JEE Main › Chemistry

Which of the following statements about resonance is NOT correct?

1. Resonating (contributing) structures are real and physically exist.
2. When equivalent contributing structures are possible, the resonance hybrid is highly stabilized.
3. Contributing structures are hypothetical and have no real, independent existence.
4. Each contributing structure is less stable than the actual resonance hybrid.

Correct answer: Resonating (contributing) structures are real and physically exist.

Solution

Canonical/resonance structures are purely hypothetical constructs used to describe the real molecule, which is the resonance hybrid. They have no independent physical existence, so the claim that they are real is incorrect.

Related JEE Main Chemistry questions

• Although the electronegativity gap between N and F is larger than that between N and H, ammonia has a dipole moment of 1.5 D while nitrogen trifluoride has only 0.2 D. The reason is that
• When N₂ is converted into N₂⁺, the dissociation energy of the N–N bond ______, and when O₂ is converted into O₂⁺, the dissociation energy of the O–O bond ______.
• From the ions listed below, which pair has geometries that can be accounted for by the same type of orbital hybridization? NO₂⁻, NO₃⁻, NH₂⁻, NH₄⁺, SCN⁻
• Atoms A and B have electronegativities of 1.20 and 4.0, respectively. What is the percentage ionic character of the A–B bond?
• In the phosphate ion, PO₄³⁻, what is the formal charge on an oxygen atom that is singly bonded to phosphorus in a P–O bond?
• Among the following species, which one has no unpaired electrons?

⚔️ Practice JEE Main Chemistry free + battle 1v1 →