How do you draw double and triple bonds in Lewis Symbols?

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How do you draw double and triple bonds in Lewis Symbols?

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Answer 1 · 2016-12-17T16:05:36

Let's look at 2 small molecules: $acetylene$ $"acetylene"$ ; and $hydrogen cyanide$ $"hydrogen cyanide"$ .

Explanation:

Both molecules contain formal triple bonds.

$Acetylene:$ $"Acetylene:"$ $C_{2} H_{2}$ $C_2H_2$ ; there are $2 \times 4 (C) + 2 (H)$ $2xx4(C)+2(H)$ $valence electrons$ $"valence electrons"$ , thus $10$ $10$ valence electrons to distribute.

$H - C \equiv C - H$ $H-C-=C-H$

$Hydrogen cyanide:$ $"Hydrogen cyanide:"$ $H C N$ $HCN$ ; there are $4 (C) + 5 (N) + 1 (H)$ $4(C)+5(N)+1(H)$ $valence electrons$ $"valence electrons"$ , thus $10$ $10$ valence electrons to distribute.

$H - C \equiv N :$ $H-C-=N:$

At the nitrogen centre 2 of the valence electrons are lone-pair, and thus the nitrogen is associated with $2 (inner shell) + 2 (lone pair) + 3 (C-N triple bond)= 7 electrons$ $2("inner shell")+2("lone pair)"+3("C-N triple bond)= 7 electrons"$ , whose charge is balanced by the 7 protons in the nitrogen nucleus. Are you happy with this?

Can you similarly account for the bonding in $ethylene$ $"ethylene"$ , $H_{2} C = C H_{2}$ $H_2C=CH_2$ , with $12 valence electrons$ $"12 valence electrons"$ ?

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How do you draw double and triple bonds in Lewis Symbols?

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