Resonance Hybrid of carbonate ion is `:`

Explanation

To find the resonance hybrid of the carbonate ion (CO₃²⁻), we will follow these steps:

### Step 1: Determine the Lewis Structure of the Carbonate Ion
1. **Count the total number of valence electrons**:
- Carbon (C) has 4 valence electrons.
- Each Oxygen (O) has 6 valence electrons, and there are three Oxygens.
- The ion has a -2 charge, which means we add 2 more electrons.
- Total = 4 + (3 × 6) + 2 = 26 valence electrons.

2. **Draw the basic structure**:
- Place the carbon atom in the center and connect it to the three oxygen atoms.

### Step 2: Distribute Electrons
1. **Form bonds**:
- Connect the carbon atom to each oxygen atom with single bonds initially.
- This uses 6 electrons (3 bonds).

2. **Distribute remaining electrons**:
- After forming the bonds, we have 20 electrons left (26 - 6 = 20).
- Distribute these electrons to satisfy the octet rule for the oxygen atoms. Each oxygen needs 8 electrons.

3. **Complete the octets**:
- Place 6 electrons (3 pairs) around each of the two outer oxygen atoms, making them negatively charged (O⁻).
- The central carbon will have only 6 electrons around it at this point.

### Step 3: Create Double Bonds
1. **Form double bonds**:
- To satisfy the octet rule for carbon, we can convert one of the single bonds to a double bond.
- This can be done with any of the three oxygen atoms, leading to three possible resonance structures.

### Step 4: Draw Resonance Structures
1. **Draw the three resonance structures**:
- Structure 1: C=O (double bond) and two O⁻ (single bonds).
- Structure 2: C=O (double bond with a different O) and two O⁻ (single bonds).
- Structure 3: C=O (double bond with the third O) and two O⁻ (single bonds).

### Step 5: Represent the Resonance Hybrid
1. **Indicate resonance**:
- The resonance hybrid is represented by drawing the structures with dashed lines to indicate that the actual structure is a blend of all three.

### Final Representation
The resonance hybrid of the carbonate ion can be represented as:
- One carbon atom double bonded to one oxygen atom and single bonded to the other two oxygen atoms, which carry a negative charge.