1. Determine the number of valence electrons:
* Hydrogen (H) has 1 valence electron.
* Fluorine (F) has 7 valence electrons.
2. Arrange the atoms:
* Hydrogen is less electronegative than fluorine, so it will be the central atom.
* However, since hydrogen can only form one bond, fluorine will essentially be the central atom in this case.
3. Connect the atoms with a single bond:
* Draw a single line between the hydrogen and fluorine atoms, representing a shared pair of electrons.
4. Distribute remaining valence electrons as lone pairs:
* Fluorine needs 8 electrons to complete its octet. It already has 2 electrons from the bond, so add 6 more as three lone pairs around the fluorine atom.
5. The final Lewis structure:
```
H - F
:
:
:
```
Important Note: The lone pairs are often represented by dots, but in this case, the colons are used to indicate the presence of the electron pairs.
