What is the formal charge for Xenon?

The formal charge of an atom in a molecule is calculated by subtracting the sum of lone pairs and half the number of bonding electrons from the total number of valence electrons. Xenon (Xe) is in Group 18 of the periodic table and has 8 valence electrons.

Step 1: Identify the number of valence electrons Xenon has. Xenon has 8 valence electrons.

Step 2: Identify the number of lone pair electrons. Xenon does not typically form bonds, so it has no lone pair or bonding electrons.

Step 3: Calculate the formal charge. The formula for calculating formal charge is:

Formal Charge = [# of valence electrons] - [non-bonding valence electrons + 1/2(bonding electrons)]

For Xenon, this would be:

Formal Charge = 8 - [0 + 1/2(0)] = 8

So, the formal charge of Xenon is 0.