Lewis Structures

Copyright © 2001, McGraw-Hill Ryerson Limited

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 Drawing Lewis Structures
• Chemical bonding involves the interaction of valence electrons—the electrons that
occupy the outermost principal energy level of an atom

• Lewis structures can be used to represent atoms in chemical bonding

Rules for Drawing Lewis Structures:

1. Replace an atom’s nucleus and inner electrons with its atomic symbol
2. Add dots around the atomic symbol to symbolize the atom’s valence electrons
3. Place the dots starting at the top and continue adding dots clockwise (to the right)
4. After the first four dots have been drawn begin again at the top

Example: Nitrogen, N

• The convention for showing more electrons is as follows:

 Lewis Structures for
Ionic Compounds
• Due to the large differences in electronegativity, the atoms in an ionic
compound usually come from the group 1 & 2 metals and the group 13 - 17
non-metals

• Through bonding, the atoms of each element obtain a valence electron

arrangement like that of the nearest noble gas

Example: Magnesium Fluoride, MgF2

– In this case, the nearest noble gas for both ions is neon
 Practice Questions
Draw each ion formed:
1) NaCl

2) CaF2

3) Mg3N2
 Practice Questions
Draw each ion formed:
1) Fe2O3

2) FeCl2
 Lewis Structures for
Covalent Compounds
• Bonding pairs of electrons can be shown using dots only or with the use of lines
between atoms where dots are reserved for representing only lone pairs (non-bonding
pairs) of electrons
 The second system will be the method of choice for this course

• The are several guidelines to the formation of various covalent compounds

 Rules for Drawing Covalent Lewis
Structures
1. Arrange the symbols of the elements by placing the atom with the lowest
electronegativity in the center

2. Add the number of valence electrons available (remember to add one electron for
each unit of negative charge and take one away for each unit of positive charge)
 Rules for Drawing Covalent Lewis
Structures
3. Place one pair of electrons between each adjacent element (single covalent bonds)

4. Place the remaining electrons as lone pairs on the peripheral atoms

 Rules for Drawing Covalent Lewis
Structures
5. If the octet around the central atom is not complete, move lone pairs from the
peripheral atoms to the central atom
– If all octets are complete, place additional lone pairs on the central atom

6. Count the number of bonds between the central atom and the peripheral atoms (if the
bonding capacity is exceeded, one of the bonds must be coordinate covalent bonds)
 Rules for Drawing Covalent Lewis
Structures
7. Replace all the bonds with lines

8. If the molecule has an overall charge, place brackets and the charge around it
 Practice Questions
Draw Lewis structures for the following molecules:
(a) H2CO

(b) NO3−

(a) CF4

(b) N2

(c) C2H4

(d) PO3 3−

(e) CN−

(f) NO2−