Answer to Question #337023 in General Chemistry for Austine

Question

1.     Does a Lewis structure tell which electrons come from which atoms? Explain.

Answer 1

No, a Lewis structure does not tell which electrons come from which atoms. Electrons are placed around atoms in a Lewis structure as dots, with no features to tell you from which atoms they have come. Because the Lewis structure is a very simplified representation of the valence shell electrons in a molecule. It is used to show how the electrons are arranged around individual atoms in a molecule. Electrons are shown as dots or for bonding electrons as a line between the two atoms. The goal is to obtain the best electron configuration to satisfy the octet rule by using these electrons. This means in the Lewis structure each atom obeys the octet configuration. Hence we can not determine whether each atom contains how many valance electrons.