Question

What is the net electric charge?

Answer 1

The charge left on the central atom when all the bonding pairs of electrons are removed.

Explanation:

See this site. Can you tell me where the formal charge lies in sulfate, or hydroxide, or carbonate anions, `SO_4^(2-)`, or `HO^-`, `CO_3^(2-)`. They should all lie on the most electronegative element.