In the Lewis electron dot structure for water, H₂O, how many “dots” should there be (using dots for all outer shell electrons, both bonding and non-bonding)?
08
06
04
10
The Correct Answer and Explanation is :
The correct answer is 08 dots.
Explanation:
The Lewis electron dot structure for a molecule like water (H₂O) represents the bonding between atoms as well as the non-bonding electrons on each atom. To determine how many “dots” there should be in the structure, we need to consider the number of valence electrons from each atom involved.
Step 1: Determine the valence electrons of each atom.
- Oxygen (O) is in Group 16 of the periodic table, so it has 6 valence electrons.
- Hydrogen (H) is in Group 1, so each hydrogen atom has 1 valence electron.
Step 2: Count the total number of valence electrons.
Since there are two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom in a water molecule, the total number of valence electrons is:
- 6 electrons from oxygen + (2 × 1 electron from hydrogen) = 8 valence electrons.
Step 3: Draw the Lewis structure.
- Oxygen is the central atom because it is more electronegative than hydrogen, so it will form bonds with the two hydrogen atoms.
- Each hydrogen atom shares its single electron with oxygen, forming a single bond (H-O-H).
- After forming two bonds with hydrogen atoms, oxygen has 4 remaining electrons, which are placed as two lone pairs (pairs of non-bonding electrons) on oxygen.
This structure uses all 8 valence electrons:
- 2 electrons are used in each O-H bond (for a total of 4 electrons).
- 4 electrons are placed as lone pairs on oxygen.
Conclusion:
In the Lewis dot structure for H₂O, there are 8 dots in total—6 for the oxygen atom (2 lone pairs and 2 electrons in bonds) and 2 for the hydrogen atoms (each with a single bond electron).
I’ll generate the image of the Lewis structure for H₂O now.
Here is the Lewis structure for a water molecule (H₂O). The image shows the oxygen atom in the center, with two hydrogen atoms bonded to it, and the lone pairs of electrons on oxygen. You can see the valence electrons represented as dots around the atoms.
If you have any further questions or need more details, feel free to ask!
