Question

Lewis dot diagram of H 2 O

Answer 1

To create the Lewis dot diagram for water (H₂O), follow these steps:

1. **Count the Total Valence Electrons**:
- Each hydrogen (H) atom has 1 valence electron and there are 2 hydrogen atoms, so that gives us \(2 \times 1 = 2\) electrons.
- Oxygen (O) has 6 valence electrons.
- Total = \(2 + 6 = 8\) valence electrons.

2. **Arrange Atoms**:
- Place the oxygen atom in the center as it is less electronegative than hydrogen. The hydrogen atoms will be on either side of the oxygen atom.

3. **Connect Atoms**:
- Draw single bonds from the oxygen atom to each hydrogen atom. Each bond uses 2 electrons (1 from O and 1 from H).
- After forming the two H-O bonds, we have used \(2 \times 2 = 4\) electrons, leaving us with \(8 - 4 = 4\) valence electrons.

4. **Distribute Remaining Electrons**:
- Place the remaining 4 electrons around the oxygen atom to complete its octet. In this case, you can place 2 lone pairs of electrons on the oxygen atom.

The final Lewis dot structure looks like this:

```
H
|
O - H
..
..
```

In this diagram:
- Each line represents a bond (2 electrons).
- The two dots (..) represent the lone pairs of electrons on the oxygen atom.