The reaction between aluminum (Al) and chlorine (Cl₂) typically produces aluminum chloride (AlCl₃). The balanced chemical equation for this reaction is:
\[ 2 \text{Al} + 3 \text{Cl}_2 \rightarrow 2 \text{AlCl}_3 \]
Lewis Dot Structure
To illustrate the Lewis dot structure, we can represent both the reactants and the product.
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Aluminum (Al): Aluminum has three valence electrons. In Lewis dot structures, these are represented as dots around the chemical symbol:
\[ \text{Al} \dots \]
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Chlorine (Cl): Chlorine has seven valence electrons. In the Lewis dot structure, each chlorine atom is illustrated with seven dots:
\[ \text{Cl} : : : : : : : \]
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Aluminum Chloride (AlCl₃): In the formation of AlCl₃, aluminum donates its three valence electrons to three chlorine atoms. Each chlorine atom will bond with aluminum by accepting one electron to achieve a full outer shell (8 electrons). This results in stable octets for the chlorine atoms.
The Lewis structure for AlCl₃ can be represented as follows:
\[ \text{Cl} : \quad \text{Al} \quad : \text{Cl} : \quad \text{Cl} : \]
Each line (or dash) between Al and Cl represents a shared pair of electrons. In this case, aluminum is bonded to three chlorine atoms through three single covalent bonds:
\[ \text{Cl} - \text{Al} - \text{Cl} \] \[ \text{ | } \] \[ \text{Cl} \]
Summary
The overall reaction can be summarized by the balanced equation, and the Lewis dot structure illustrates how electrons are arranged in the formation of aluminum chloride from aluminum and chlorine.