How do you know how many lines to draw in a Lewis structure?
1 Answer
The period an element is on, is in relation to the number of orbitals its Bohr-Rutherford diagram requires.
Explanation:
I believe you're confusing Lewis (dot) diagrams and Bohr-Rutherford diagrams.
Lewis diagrams only depict the valence electrons, while Bohr-Rutherford diagrams depict all of the electrons present in one atom.
In Bohr-Rutherford diagrams, the period an element is on, is in relation to the number of orbitals its the diagram requires.
For example, phosphorus.
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Phosphorus is on the 3rd period, meaning there will be 3 orbitals around the nucleus.
As you go down a period, the number of electrons allowed on an orbital increases.
A Lewis dot diagram will have 5 valence electrons, because it's in the 5th group.
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The position of the valence electron pair is unimportant in this case
When drawing the Lewis structure of a compound, you may use lines to represent an electron pair.
Hope this helps :)
