Final answer:
The left hydrogen atom in the Lewis structure of formaldehyde has one bonding pair, which is the single bond to carbon, and zero lone pairs, making the correct answer (a) Bonding pairs: 1, Lone pairs: 0.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question refers to the Lewis structure of the formaldehyde molecule (CH2O) and asks to count the number of bonding pairs and lone pairs around the left hydrogen atom. In the Lewis structure of formaldehyde, each hydrogen atom is bonded to the central carbon atom via a single bond. Since hydrogen atoms only need two electrons to have a complete outer shell, this single bond provides the two electrons for the hydrogen, and this bond is considered as one bonding pair. Hydrogen atoms do not have lone pairs because they can only have a maximum of one electron pair, which is always a bonding pair if the hydrogen is part of a molecule. Therefore, the correct answer to the number of bonding and lone pairs around a hydrogen atom in formaldehyde is: Bonding pairs: 1, Lone pairs: 0, which corresponds to option (a).