Mystery Element

[VGonzalez]

How do you decide what the center element will be to complete a Lewis Structure?

[105114680]

The center atom will be the atom with the lowest ionization energy. Ionization energy increases as you go across from left to right on the periodic table and decreases as you go down a group. Hope this was helpful!

[Megan Gianna Uy 3L]

Typically, the center element would be the element that is the least electronegative. Or sometimes, the question will give you a specific element to use.

[sameeksha_panda_3h]

In addition to lowest ionization energy/ electronegativity, you can also double check whether the structure of a compound is best by checking the formal charges of all of the atoms.

[Zubair Ahmed 1L]

Just to reiterate, the central element is typically the least electronegative atom and a good way to check that is to calculate the formal charges of all the elements in the molecule.