I am having a difficulty with this answer. I tried adding another reference to it, but then when I clicked on the link I suddenly started getting security errors even though it is supposed to be a trusted site. Rolling back did not help, neither did restarting my device, and I cannot find anythin...
In a problem, I was asked to find the Lewis structure of the guanidinium ion $\ce{C(NH2)3}^{+1}$. I followed the following steps which led me to an incorrect structure and I was hoping someone could help me find my mistake.
The total number of valence electrons is given by $4+3(5+2(1)) +1 = 26.$...
@MetalStorm If my memory serves me right (I'd otherwise have to crack open my QM books and they are not handy): because the ground state has the lowest energy of any state of the system, minimizing E using the variational method guarantees that you have under the circumstances (ie basis set limitations) the best approximation to the ground state of the found solutions. I would not expect such guarantees for other properties, unless these also happen to be minimized and correlate with E.
@orthocresol A meta post is imminent. It'd be good to get your feedback on what is discussed there given your experience.
The Periodic Table
The Periodic Table