Write The Lewis Structure For Methane

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Write The Lewis Structure For Methane, CH4

Write The Lewis Structure For Oxygen Difluoride.

The Correct Answer and Explanation is :

Lewis Structures for Methane (CH₄) and Oxygen Difluoride (OF₂)

Methane (CH₄)

  1. Step 1: Count the total valence electrons.
  • Carbon (C) has 4 valence electrons.
  • Hydrogen (H) has 1 valence electron × 4 = 4.
  • Total = 4 (C) + 4 (H) = 8 valence electrons.
  1. Step 2: Arrange the atoms.
  • Carbon is the central atom because it is less electronegative than hydrogen.
  1. Step 3: Distribute electrons.
  • Form single bonds between carbon and each hydrogen atom.
  • Each single bond uses 2 electrons, for a total of 8 electrons.
  1. Final Structure:
  • Carbon forms 4 single bonds with hydrogen.
  • No lone pairs remain on carbon or hydrogen since all valence electrons are used in bonding.

Lewis Structure for CH₄:

      H
      |
H - C - H
      |
      H

Oxygen Difluoride (OF₂)

  1. Step 1: Count the total valence electrons.
  • Oxygen (O) has 6 valence electrons.
  • Fluorine (F) has 7 valence electrons × 2 = 14.
  • Total = 6 (O) + 14 (F) = 20 valence electrons.
  1. Step 2: Arrange the atoms.
  • Oxygen is the central atom because it is less electronegative than fluorine.
  1. Step 3: Distribute electrons.
  • Form single bonds between oxygen and each fluorine atom. This uses 4 electrons (2 per bond).
  • Distribute the remaining 16 electrons as lone pairs: 6 electrons on each fluorine (to fill their octets) and 4 electrons as lone pairs on oxygen.
  1. Final Structure:
  • Oxygen forms 2 single bonds with fluorine and has 2 lone pairs.
  • Each fluorine has 3 lone pairs.

Lewis Structure for OF₂:

   F - O - F
    :   :

Explanation

The Lewis structure is a representation of the bonding between atoms and the distribution of valence electrons. For methane (CH₄), carbon forms 4 covalent bonds with hydrogen, satisfying the octet rule for carbon and the duet rule for hydrogen. No lone pairs exist in CH₄ because all valence electrons are used in bonding.

For oxygen difluoride (OF₂), oxygen shares electrons with two fluorine atoms to form single bonds. Fluorine atoms satisfy the octet rule with their lone pairs, while oxygen also satisfies the octet rule with 2 lone pairs of electrons. This structure reflects the molecular geometry of OF₂, which is bent due to lone-pair repulsion on the oxygen atom.

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