{"id":224630,"date":"2025-06-03T10:17:59","date_gmt":"2025-06-03T10:17:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/learnexams.com\/blog\/?p=224630"},"modified":"2025-06-03T10:18:01","modified_gmt":"2025-06-03T10:18:01","slug":"what-is-the-total-number-of-valence-electrons-in-the-compound-c2h6o-also-write-out-the-lewis-dot-structure-of-this-compound-and-submit-with-your-written-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/2025\/06\/03\/what-is-the-total-number-of-valence-electrons-in-the-compound-c2h6o-also-write-out-the-lewis-dot-structure-of-this-compound-and-submit-with-your-written-work\/","title":{"rendered":"What is the total number of valence electrons in the compound C2H6O &#8211; also write out the Lewis dot structure of this compound and submit with your written work"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>What is the total number of valence electrons in the compound C2H6O &#8211; also write out the Lewis dot structure of this compound and submit with your written work. Hint for structure: one of the H atoms is bonded to the O; the O also has a bond to C<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-ast-global-color-1-color\">The Correct Answer and Explanation is:<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Total Number of Valence Electrons in <strong>C\u2082H\u2086O<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>To determine the total number of valence electrons in the compound <strong>C\u2082H\u2086O<\/strong> (ethanol or dimethyl ether, depending on structure), we add up the valence electrons for each atom:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Carbon (C)<\/strong>: 4 valence electrons \u00d7 2 atoms = 8 electrons<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Hydrogen (H)<\/strong>: 1 valence electron \u00d7 6 atoms = 6 electrons<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Oxygen (O)<\/strong>: 6 valence electrons \u00d7 1 atom = 6 electrons<br><strong>Total = 8 (C) + 6 (H) + 6 (O) = 20 valence electrons<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Lewis Dot Structure of C\u2082H\u2086O (Ethanol)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Based on the hint: \u201cone of the H atoms is bonded to the O; the O also has a bond to C,\u201d the structure is <strong>ethanol (CH\u2083CH\u2082OH)<\/strong>, not dimethyl ether.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code>      H   H   H       H\n      |   |   |       |\nH \u2014 C \u2014 C \u2014 O \u2014 H\n      |   |\n      H   H\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Lewis Dot Structure (simplified with dots for lone pairs on oxygen):<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Each H forms 1 bond.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Each C forms 4 bonds.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Oxygen forms 2 bonds and has 2 lone pairs (4 electrons).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code>H   H   H         ..\n|   |   |        :\nH\u2013C\u2013C\u2013O\u2013H\n|   |\nH   H\n        :\n        ..\n<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Explanation<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The compound <strong>C\u2082H\u2086O<\/strong> contains two carbon atoms, six hydrogen atoms, and one oxygen atom. To determine its structure and bonding, we begin with calculating the total number of valence electrons. Carbon, in group 14, contributes 4 valence electrons each; hydrogen, in group 1, contributes 1 electron each; and oxygen, in group 16, contributes 6 valence electrons. Thus, the molecule contains:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>2 Carbons \u00d7 4 = 8 e\u207b<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>6 Hydrogens \u00d7 1 = 6 e\u207b<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>1 Oxygen \u00d7 6 = 6 e\u207b<br><strong>Total = 20 valence electrons<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The structure depends on how atoms are connected. The hint specifies that a hydrogen is bonded to oxygen and that oxygen is also bonded to carbon. This setup suggests the molecule is <strong>ethanol<\/strong> (CH\u2083CH\u2082OH), where an \u2013OH group is attached to an ethyl chain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ethanol\u2019s structure begins with a carbon (C) bonded to three hydrogens (H), making a methyl group (CH\u2083). This carbon is bonded to another carbon, which forms a methylene group (CH\u2082). The second carbon bonds to an oxygen atom (O), which in turn bonds to a hydrogen atom (H), forming a hydroxyl group (\u2013OH). Oxygen completes its octet with two lone pairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Each atom satisfies the octet rule (or duet for hydrogen) and the total bonding uses up all 20 valence electrons. The molecule is stable, neutral, and reflects typical covalent bonding. Ethanol is a polar molecule due to the O\u2013H bond, contributing to its solubility in water and other polar solvents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/learnexams-banner4-211.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-224631\"\/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What is the total number of valence electrons in the compound C2H6O &#8211; also write out the Lewis dot structure of this compound and submit with your written work. Hint for structure: one of the H atoms is bonded to the O; the O also has a bond to C The Correct Answer and Explanation [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-224630","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-exams-certification"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224630","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=224630"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224630\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=224630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=224630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=224630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}