A Br i ef Tut or i al on Dr awi ng Lewi s Dot

St r uct ur es
We wi l l use
exampl es on
dr awi ng Lewi
wor k i n al l
of t he t i me.

t hr ee mol ecul es ( CO2, CO32- and NH4+) as our

t hi s gui ded t our of a si mpl e met hod f or
s dot st r uct ur es. Whi l e t hi s al gor i t hm may not
cases, i t shoul d be adequat e t he vast maj or i t y

Pr ocedur e f or Neut r al Mol ecul es ( CO2)

1. Deci de how many val ence ( out er shel l ) el ect r ons ar e
posessed by each at om i n t he mol ecul e.

2. I f t her e i s mor e t han one at om t ype i n t he mol ecul e,

put t he most met al l i c or l east el ect r onegat i ve at om i n t he
cent er . Recal l t hat el ect r onegat i vi t y decr eases as at om
moves f ur t her away f r om f l uor i ne on t he per i odi c char t .

Ar r angement of at oms i n CO2:

3. Ar r ange t he el ect r ons so t hat each at om cont r i but es one

el ect r on t o a si ngl e bond bet ween each at om.

4. Count t he el ect r ons ar ound each at om: ar e t he oct et s

compl et e? I f so, your Lewi s dot st r uct ur e i s compl et e.

5. I f t he oct et s ar e i ncompl et e, and mor e el ect r ons r emai n

t o be shar ed, move one el ect r on per bond per at om t o make
anot her bond. Not e t hat i n some st r uct ur es t her e wi l l be
open oct et s ( exampl e: t he B of BF3) , or at oms whi ch have
t en el ect r ons ( exampl e: t he S of SF5) .

6. Repeat st eps 4 and 5 as needed unt i l al l oct et s ar e

f ul l .
7. Redr aw t he dot s so t hat el ect r ons on any gi ven at om ar e
i n pai r s wher ever possi bl e.

Pr ocedur e f or Negat i vel y Char ged I ons ( CO32- )

Use t
st ep
oct et
el ect

he same pr ocedur e as out l i ned above, t hen as a l ast

add one el ect r on per negat i ve char ge t o f i l l
s. Car bonat e i on has a 2- char ge, so we have t wo
r ons avai l abl e t o f i l l oct et s.

Usi ng t he pr ocedur e above, we ar r i ve a t hi s

st r uct ur e:
The t wo si ngl y- bonded oxygen at oms each have an open
oct et , so we add one el ect r on t o each so as t o f i l l t hese
oct et s. The added el ect r ons ar e shown wi t h ar r ows.
Don' t
f or get t o assi gn f or mal char ges as wel l ! The f i nal Lewi s
st r uct ur e f or car bonat e i on i s:

Pr ocedur e f or Posi t i vel y Char ged I ons ( NH4+)

Use t he same pr ocedur e as out l i ned above, t hen r emove one
el ect r on per post i ve char ge as needed t o avoi d expanded
oct et s. When usi ng t hi s pr ocedur e f or posi t i vel y char ged
i ons, i t may be necessar y t o have some at oms wi t h expanded
oct et s ( ni t r ogen i n t hi s exampl e) . For each uni t of
posi t i ve char ge on t he i on r emove on el ect r on f r om t hese
exapnded oct et s. I f done cor r ect l y, your f i nal st r uct ur e
shoul d have no f i r st or second per i od el ement s wi t h
expanded oct et s.
Usi ng t he basi c pr ocedur e out l i ned above, we ar r i ve at a
st r uct ur e i n whi ch ni t r ogen has ni ne val ence
el ect r ons. ( El ect r ons suppl i ed by hydr ogen ar e r ed;
el ect r ons suppl i ed by ni t r ogen ar e bl ack. ) Removal of one
of t hese val ence el ect r ons t o account f or t he 1+ char ge of
ammoni um i on sol ves t hi s oc t et r ul e vi ol at i on.

Li nk t o: Tut or i al s Topi c Li st