Commonly Tested Lewis Structures

1. Cl Valence Electrons
2. Cl-1 Valence Electrons

• Read my article in Science Education based on my dissertation.

We draw Lewis Structures to predict:
-the shape of a molecule.
-the reactivity of a molecule and how it might interact with other molecules.
-the physical properties of a molecule such as boiling point, surface tension, etc.

An atom such as chlorine (Cl), that contains seven electrons in its valence shell, needs one more electron to have a full valence shell. If we use the same logic as we did for sodium, we should conclude that chlorine would rather gain one more electron than lose all seven of its valence electrons to achieve stability. In this step,we will find out the valence electrons of chlorine.We have to know that the electrons of valence shell are called valence electrons. Cl (17)=1s²2s²2p⁶3s²3p⁵ From the above electron configuration of chlorine,we see that chlorine has 7 valence electrons in its valence shell.

Video: Drawing the Lewis Structure for ClO₂^-

For the ClO2- Lewis structure the total number of valence electrons (found on the periodic table) for the ClO2- molecule. Once we know how many valence electrons there are in ClO2- we can distribute them around the central atom with the goal of filling the outer shells of each atom.

In the Lewis structure for ClO2- we put Chlorine (Cl) at the center of the structure since it is the least electronegative. There are total of 20 valence electrons for the ClO2- Lewis structure. Remember that the negative sign counts as one valence electron.

To show that the ClO2- Lewis structure is an ion with a -1 change we need to put brackets around the structure and put a negative side on the outside of the brackets.

Cl Valence Electrons

It is helpful if you:

• Try to draw the ClO₂^- Lewis structure before watching the video.
• Watch the video and see if you missed any steps or information.
• Try structures similar to ClO₂^- for more practice.

List of Lewis Structures

Acetone	BF3	BH4-	BrF5	BrO3-	C2H2	C2H4	ClO-
CH4	ClO2-	ClO2	ClO4-	CO	CS2	H2O	H3O+
HCl	HNO3	I3-	ICl4-	IF5	N2	N3-	NH2OH
NH3	NO2-	NO2	NO3-	O2	OF2	PCl5	PH3
PO33-	PO43-	SCl2	SF4	SF6	SO3	SO42-	XeF2
XeF4

Cl-1 Valence Electrons