【 】What is the Lewis Dot structure for CO2 (Carbon dioxide)?

 

In  Lewis Dot structure for CO2,there are two double bonds that are going from carbon to oxygens.

Lewis Dot structure for CO2

In Lewis Dot structure for CO2,there are four lone pairs.Each oxygen atom has two lone pairs around it.The carbon atom doesn't have any lone pair.

In Lewis Dot structure for CO2,the carbon atom follows the octet rule and two oxygen atoms also follow the octet rule.

Explanation:

Hello,today I am going to draw the Lewis Dot structure for CO2 in just five steps.



Lewis Dot structure for CO2 Setup Step-01:
           

    

To draw the Lewis Dot structure for CO2 , we have to find out the CO2 valence electrons first.We express valence electrons as dots in CO2 lewis dot structure.

To get the valence electrons of carbon,we need to look at the electronic configuration of carbon.



C(6)=1s²2s²2p²



The highest value of principal quantum number here is n=2.


The highest value of principal quantum number ,n , indicates the valence shell and we know the electrons in valence shell is called valence shell.




The nunber of valence electrons in carbon is 4.





Now,to draw the lewis dot structure of carbon,we need to imagine a square around carbon.

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We know a square has four sides.At first,we have to place one valence electrons as dot to every side of that square before pairing up.


Again, we have to find out the valence electrons of oxygen.

To get the valence electrons of oxygen,we need to look at the electronic configuration of oxygen.


O(8)=1s²2s²2p⁴

The highest value of principal quantum number here is n=2.

The highest value of principal quantum number ,n , indicates the valence shell and we know the electrons in valence shell is called valence shell.




The nunber of valence electrons in oxygen is 6.


Now to draw the lewis dot structure of oxygen,we need to imagine a square around oxygen.

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We know a square has four sides.At first,we have to place one valence electrons as dot to every side of that square before pairing up.

   Step-02:CO2 Valence Electrons

Now we have to count total number of CO2 valence electrons .

C =4

2×O=6×2=12

So,the total number of CO2 valence electrons is sixteen ( 4+12=16).

              Lewis Dot structure for CO2 Setup Step-03:



Now we have to determine the central atom in CO2.The central atom is that kind of atom that is single or that has lower electronegativity.In case of CO2,Carbon,C, is the central atom and oxygen ,O, is the outer atom.




              Lewis Dot structure for CO2 Step-04:

Now we need to connect the outer atoms with  the central atoms using single bond or line(-).Every line represent two 【●●】dots or two valence electrons.

In the above structure,we have used 4 valence electrons.So,we have 16-4=12 left.

Now we will use these 12 valence electrons to satisfy the outer atoms for completing its octet first.

Already we have used all the left electrons.The outer atom oxygen has gained octet but the central atom does not gain octet.

Now we need to satisfy the central atom for its octet by using the lone pair from outer atoms.So, from the above structure we will get three probable structures.

   

    Lewis Dot structure for CO2 and Formal Charge  Step-05:

The above three structures are the probable CO2 Lewis  structures .To find the best CO2 Lewis  structure from these three,we have to find out CO2 formal charge by applying the formula for formal charge.

Now we need to calculate the formal charge for each atom of the above three structures.

Structure【A】Formal Charge

In this Lewis Dot structure for CO2
【A】,the formal charge of carbon is zero and the formal charge of both oxygen is also zero.

Structure【B】Formal Charge

Structure 【C】 Formal Charge

So,the best Lewis Dot structure for CO2
 will be the one where most atoms will have zero formal charge.Here,the first one is the best Lewis Dot structure for CO2.

CO2 Best Lewis Structure

CO2 Lewis  Structure

 

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