1. Determine the number of valence electrons:
* Hydrogen (H) has 1 valence electron.
* Chlorine (Cl) has 7 valence electrons.
2. Place the least electronegative atom in the center:
* Hydrogen is less electronegative than chlorine. However, since hydrogen can only form one bond, it will be on the outside.
3. Connect the atoms with a single bond:
* This uses up two electrons, one from each atom.
4. Complete the octet for the more electronegative atom:
* Chlorine needs 6 more electrons to have a full octet. We add three lone pairs (6 dots) around the chlorine atom.
The electron dot formula for HCl looks like this:
H : Cl :
: :
: :
Key points:
* The single bond between H and Cl represents the sharing of two electrons.
* Chlorine has a full octet (8 electrons) while hydrogen has a full duet (2 electrons).
* The Lewis structure accurately represents the bonding in HCl.
