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What is the formal charge on the nitrogen atom (N) in the ammonium ion (NH4+)? Show your calculation steps.

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To calculate the formal charge on the nitrogen atom  N  in the ammonium ion  NH4+ , we can use the following formula:Formal charge =  Valence electrons of N  -  Non-bonding electrons  -  1/2 * Bonding electrons Step 1: Determine the valence electrons of nitrogen  N Nitrogen is in group 15 of the periodic table, so it has 5 valence electrons.Step 2: Determine the non-bonding electronsIn the ammonium ion, nitrogen is bonded to four hydrogen atoms, and there are no lone pairs  non-bonding electrons  on the nitrogen atom. So, the non-bonding electrons are 0.Step 3: Determine the bonding electronsEach nitrogen-hydrogen bond in the ammonium ion has 2 electrons. Since there are 4 nitrogen-hydrogen bonds, there are a total of 4 * 2 = 8 bonding electrons.Now, we can plug these values into the formula:Formal charge =  5  -  0  -  1/2 * 8 Formal charge = 5 - 0 - 4Formal charge = +1So, the formal charge on the nitrogen atom  N  in the ammonium ion  NH4+  is +1.
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