Copyright © 2008 Pearson Prentice Hall, Inc.
Chapter 7/
15
Electron-Dot Structures of
Polyatomic Molecules
2(1) + 6 = 8 valence electrons
Step 4:
Step 1:
Step 2:
bonding pair of electrons
lone pair of electrons
H
O
H
Draw an electron-dot structure for
H
2
O
.
H
O
H
Step 2: The positioning of the terminal atoms about the central is not critical as long as they simply surround the central atom.
Step 3: The terminal atom is hydrogen.
Step 5: The central atom has an octet so no multiple bonding.