Lewis formula "water"
Every high school student at some point learns the Lewis formula in chemistry class - a popular way of representing molecules correctly with their specific binding electrons. Little background knowledge is required to apply this formula to the water molecule.
Keep this in mind when creating the Lewis formula
- Before applying the Lewis formula to the molecule of water, the basics of this particular notation should be known. For this is the correct handling of the Periodic table of the elements necessary.
- When drawing chemical molecules according to the Lewis formula, the elements involved in the bond are first written next to each other. The abbreviations for the elements can be looked up in the periodic table.
- The periodic table of the elements also provides information about the number of outer electrons of an element. The number of these electrons can be between 1 and 8.
- You can easily find out the number of outer electrons by looking up which group the element in question is in. The group number also indicates the number of these electrons.
- Now you can draw the molecule. Draw the number of electrons as dots around the element symbols.
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The Lewis notation for water
In order to be able to apply the Lewis formula for water, you should proceed according to the basic principle described above. However, there is one more special feature to consider when it comes to the water molecule.
- First you look for the elements involved in the water molecule from the periodic table of the elements. The molecule contains oxygen once and hydrogen twice.
- Don't forget that the elements in the periodic table are abbreviated by element symbols. You can find hydrogen under H (= Hydrogenium) and oxygen under O (= Oxygenium).
- The special feature of water comes into play when the element symbols are drawn; Due to the special spatial structure of the molecule, the elements O and H must be drawn at an angle.
- To do this, imagine a flat triangle; in each of the two lower corners there is a hydrogen atom, while oxygen forms the tip. You can only imagine the triangle, not draw it!
- Now look in the periodic table to see how many external electrons are supplied by the binding partners. The hydrogens each have an electron, which you represent as a point next to the element in the direction of the oxygen atom.
- Oxygen supplies a total of 6 outer electrons, which you distribute around the element symbol in such a way that they contribute to the One point towards hydrogen and two points on each of the other two sides will.
- Remember: the dots must not be connected!
The water molecule is ready.
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