CHEMISTRY COMMUNITY

In terms of quantum/e- config, what exactly are lone pairs?
For instance, in carbon, the e- configuration is
but when you draw a lewis structure for C, the 4 valence electrons are all separated.

So when you draw molecules, such as CO2, there are a total of 16 electrons present. Carbon has 4 valence electrons and oxygen has 6. So you draw the structure and find that Carbon is in the center and has the oxygens on the side. They are connected with double bonds. Carbon has used all of its valence electrons, as it has a total of 4 bonds, 2 for each Oxygen. Each oxygen, on the other hand, only has 2 valence electrons used. They each have 4 remaining valence electrons that cannot interact with the Carbon. These remaining 4 valence electrons turn out to be the lone pairs that stay with the Oxygen and do not contribute to the covalent bonds formed with the Carbon.

Thank you for the answer, but I actually figured out that hybridization answers the question I was actually trying to ask. The placement of the electrons in lewis structures of single atoms makes more sense in those terms than by looking at the regular electron configuration.