Lewis Dot Structures

Understanding and drawing Lewis Dot structures are very important part of Organic Chemistry. Electrons are what its all about when it comes to one molecule reacting with another so one must be able to show all the electrons properly. Below you will find a set of simple rules to use when drawing Lewis dot structures.

1. Show only valence electrons (these are the outer shell electrons - the highest energy electrons - the only electrons which take part in bonding). The number of valence electrons of an atom is determined by which group the atom is in. Show all valence electrons -bonding or nonbonding.

2. The atoms in the 2nd row always want 8 electrons around them.

3. Show the charge. To determine the charge use the following formula:
# of valence electrons - # of electrons the atom owns = charge
(an atom only owns half the electrons in each covalent bond)

To Summarize:

1. Show all valence electrons.
2. Make sure all 2nd row elements have 8 electrons around them.
3. Show the charge.