CuSO4 Lewis Structure & Characteristics (15 Helpful Facts)

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CuSO4 or copper sulphate is also known as blue vitriol, blue stone or vitriol of copper. Let us discuss about some important facts about CuSO4.

CuSO4 or copper sulphate is an inorganic salt of copper and sulphate ion. Its molar mass is 159.60 gram/mol. It’s density is 3.6 g/cm3. Copper sulphate has both anhydrous and hydrates form. Most of the common and stable hydrate form found is CuSO4 5 H2O or copper sulphate penta hydrate.

Copper sulphate is prepared by treating copper with heated concentrated sulphuric acid. Let us discuss about copper sulphate Lewis structure, geometry, angle and hybridization in the following sections.

How to Draw CuSO4 Lewis Structure?

Lewis structure can be considered as the very simplest representation of electronic geometry of a compound. Let us draw the Lewis structure of CuSO4.

Calculating total Valence Electrons

Copper has one electron in its valence shell similarly Sulphur and oxygen has six electrons in their valence shell. So in total 1+6+4×6=31 electrons.

Draw the skeletal structure

Copper sulphate is an ionic compound so copper and sulphate will exist as ions. The valence electrons are represented in such a way that the sulphur is the central atom making four bonds with oxygen.

cuso4 lewis structure
Lewis Structure of CuSO4

CuSO4 Lewis structure Shape

The shape of a molecule can be tetrahedral, linear, square planar, pyramidal etc. Let us discuss about the shape of CuSO4.

The shape of CuSO4 in Lewis structure is tetrahedral. The central sulphur atom attached with four oxygen making four single bonds and two double bonds. The bond length between sulphur oxygen bond is 149 pm.

CuSO4 Lewis Structure Formal Charge

Formal charge is a hypothetical charge assigned to an atom when it is combined to make a molecule or a compound. Let us calculate the formal charge of CuSO4.

The formal charge of CuSO4 is 0 for all the atoms except oxygen atom. Here Sulphur, copper and double bonded oxygen has formal charge value is zero but the oxygen which made single bond with sulphur has a formal charge value of -1.

  • Formal charge of sulphur=0
  • Formal charge of double bonded oxygen=0
  • Formal charge of copper=0
  • Formal charge of single bonded oxygen=-1

CuSO4 Lewis Structure Angle

Bond angle is the angle made in between the atoms when they are combined together to form a compound and can be different. Let us discuss about the bond angle of CuSO4.

The bond angle of CuSO4 Lewis structure is 109.50 . It is because of the shape of the CuSO4 molecule it has a tetrahedral shape. All the oxygen atoms are arranged in a tetrahedral manner around the sulphur atom making a bond angle of 109.50.

CuSO4 Lewis Structure Octet Rule

Octet rule states that right electrons should be present in the outer shell of an atom after bond making process. Let us see whether CuSO4 obeys octet rule or not.

In CuSO4 Lewis Structure only oxygen atom obeys octet rule. All the four oxygens atoms in CuSO4 have eight electrons in its outer shell. But sulphur has an expanded octet with 12 electrons in outer shell.

Similarly in copper due to the presence of d orbitals its octet is also got expanded because d orbital can accommodate more than eight electrons. So copper also has more than eight electrons in the outer shell.

CuSO4 Lewis Structure Lone Pairs

The electrons which are present in the valence shell of an atom but do not took participation in Bond formation is called lone pairs. Let us discuss about the Lone pairs present in CuSO4

The Lone pairs present in CuSO4 Lewis structure is 10. All lone pair of electrons in this compound is present in oxygen. Two Oxygen has two pairs of electrons and two oxygen has three pairs of electrons. So in total there is 10 pairs of electrons or 20 non bonded electrons.

CuSO4 Valence Electrons

Electrons present in the valence shell of a compound which participates in Bond formation is called valence electron. Let us see the number of valence electrons present in CuSO4.

The Valance electrons present in CuSO4 is 31. CuSO4 has one copper and sulphur atom and 4 oxygen atom. Copper has one Valence Electron and oxygen and Sulphur with six valence electrons in the outer shell. Hence total there is 31 Valence Electrons.

CuSO4  Hybridization

Hybridization is a process which can be only seen in covalent compounds. Let us look into the hybridization of CuSO4.

The hybridization of CuSO4 is sp3. In CuSO4 the sulphate ion is formed as a result of covalent bonds. So the hybridization of sulphate ion is considered here. The equation for finding hybridization is

  • Hybridisation=1/2(V+M-C+A)
  • Where V is Valence Electrons, M is monovalent atom, C is positive charge and A is negative charge.
  • Hybridisation of SO42- = ½(6+0-0+2)

                                          =8/2 =4

When 4 is the hybridization number then the hybridization of the compound is found to be sp3.

CuSO4 Solubility

A saturated solution is made when maximum amount of solute is dissolved in a particular amount of solvent. Let us discuss about the solubility of CuSO4.

CuSO4 is soluble in water. It gets easily dissolved in water to form a copper complex. This reaction is completely exothermic.CuSO4 is soluble in water because both are ionic compounds.

In the following solvent CuSO4 is soluble

  • Methanol

Is CuSO4 Solid or Liquid?

Solid liquid and gas are the three main States of matter. Let us see whether CuSO4 is a solid or a liquid.

CuSO4 is found to be a solid substance. The anhydrous CuSO4 exist as a grey white coloured powder while pentahydrate CuSO4 exist as a blue coloured crystal. The crystal structure of anhydrous CuSO4 is orthorhombic and pentahydrate is triclinic.

Is CuSO4 Polar or Nonpolar?

Presence of a definite value of dipole moment indicates that the compound is Polar in nature. Let us check whether CuSO4 as polar or not.

CuSO4 is a polar compound. But the sulphate ion present in CuSO4 is nonpolar in nature. It is because of the four equivalent dipole moment values in opposite direction between sulphur and oxygen which got cancelled each other.

CuSO4 is polar in nature because it dissolved in water very easily. Since water is a polar compound it can only dissolve with ionic or polar compound.

Is CuSO4 Acidic or Basic?

Acidity and basicity of a compound can be easily understood by measuring its pH value. Let us discuss whether CuSO4 is acid or base.

CuSO4 is an acidic substance when dissolved in water. It is due to its ionic nature.When CuSO4 is dissolved in water it will form copper hydroxide and sulphuric acid.

Where copper hydroxide is a very weak base and sulphuric acid is a strong acid. So the solution will give acidic character more.

Is CuSO4 Electrolyte?

Electrolyte is a compound where all atoms are joined together by ionic bonds and these Bonds got broken when dissolved in water. Let us check whether CuSO4 is electrolyte or not.

CuSO4 is an electrolyte. When dissolved in water CuSO4 dissociated to give Cu2+ and SO4 2- ions.  These ions are capable of moving in between the solutions and they will conduct electricity when two electrodes were placed in the solution.

Is CuSO4 is Ionic or Covalent?

Ionic compounds are made by ionic bonds and covalent compounds are made by covalent bonds. Let us check whether CuSO4 is ionic or covalent.

CuSO4 is an ionic compound. It is formed by the attraction between Cu2+ positive ion and SO4 2- negative ion. So the bond existing in between the atoms is ionic bond and the compound exhibits all the properties of ionic compounds.

Conclusion

CuSO4 or copper sulphate is a compound which is used as a fungizide, herbicide. It is used as an analytical reagent and in organic synthesis. Sometimes it is used as a resistive element in liquid resistors and also a mordant in vegetable dyeing.

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