Commonly Tested Lewis Structures

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.

Drawing the Lewis Structure for ClO^-

Video: Drawing the Lewis Structure for ClO^-

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

You should check the formal charges to make sure this is the best structure since the molecule has Chlorine as a central atom.

Also note that you should put the ClO- Lewis structure in brackets with a negative sign on the outside to show that it is an ion with a negative one charge.

It is helpful if you:

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