How can phosphate bond to 3 oxygens and double bond to one?
I thought carbon had the maximum number of bondable valence electrons, which is four. How can phosphate bond to 5 electrons?
Oh, and if anyone knows where the word "noob" came from, that could be vital to me passing biology.
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Answer by tzone92
Phosphorus is in chemical group 5A on the periodic table, which means it has 5 valence electrons (the ones that participate in chemical bonding). Usually atoms want to get to having either 0 or 8 valence electrons, so phosphorus can either lose 5 or gain 3 electrons to be "happy." Usually an atom will do whichever requires the fewest gains or losses, and in many compounds phosphorus only makes 3 bonds. However, oxygen is a special element because it has a really high electronegativity. Electronegativity is a measure of how much an element likes electrons. Oxygen likes electrons so much that it will take all 5 of phosphorus's valence electrons. Phosphorus doesn't mind because it still gets what makes it happy, and oxygen gets electrons which makes it happy.
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