Resonance structures

[Bio-Hazard]

I'm trying to understand resonance structures, and I don't know why the following matters:

 

1) How you draw the Lewis structure.

2) The position of all the atoms.

 

I'm looking at the sulfate Lewis structure, and I don't understand why two oxygens have to be at the bottom.

 

 

Why can't I turn it all at a 22-degree angle?

 

 

I'm seeing this thing as a two-dimensional object in space, so I don't really get what the difference is between one version and the other if they look the same.

[ronthepon]

:) there is absolutely no difference, feel free to rotate a lewis structure by whatever angle you want; be it 22 degrees or pi raised to the power e minus seven radians.

[UncleAl]

A resonance structure leaves nuclei in place and cycles formal electron pairing. First, is SO3 planar? Yes. Now do [1,3] shifts to run the double bond around the sulfur. If it makes you happier, you can add three sulfonium ylide hybrids as well.