Dot order

[Brett Lieuallen 2A]

Do the dots in a lewis structure matter in the order they are positioned or added. For example for atoms in a period, does the order electrons are added matter beyond making sure an electron fills one of the four positions before the next set of four are added? And do the electrons that are going to be shared or given face toward the atom they are going to be shared/given to? Or does this not matter notation wise?

[Chem_Mod]

Paired electrons need to be next to each other as a pair.

Unpaired electrons are indicated by single dots.

E.g., N atom has its 5 valence electrons indicated by one pair and three unpaired electrons.

[Immi Lee - 1D]

I think the general rule I learned in my high school chemistry class is that you start with singular dots on top of the atomic symbol, then go clockwise putting another dot on each side of the atomic symbol. That way you put one dot on every side of the atomic symbol before adding dots to create paired electrons.

[805593945]

I don't think the order of the dot matter, though there is an obscure rule to it. I think you can apply Hund's rule to it, where each orbital should be occupied with one electron before you could add the second electron to the orbital. Similarly, each side of the symbol must have at least a dot before you could put the second dot or do the line (also mean 2 e-). This was what I learned in AP chem so. Hope it helps.

[Michelle Nguyen 3F]

The only rule for the Lewis Dot structure that I remember is that the first four electrons have to fill up each of the four sides before adding on the next four. For the non-noble gases after four electrons, I don't think the placement of the electrons matter.

[Sahiti Annadata 3D]

While people generally start at the top and go clockwise, it does not make a difference in the structure/composition of the compound.

[Earl Garrovillo 2L]

It really doesn't matter where the electrons are located or how they are filled. Though many use the start at the top and fill in a clockwise way to fill Lewis structures, at the end of the day, I think the dot orders are just a visual interpretation designed to easily see the valence e- of atoms/compounds. The only time where it would really matter is when there's bonds involved since those need to be placed in specific places.

[Kyla Roche 2K]

I don't think the placement matters other than in covalent bonds, the dots in between the two atoms are the shared ones so keep that in mind!

[Will Skinner]

The Lewis structures have two dot on each side of the element symbol. The electrons shared between atoms should face each other.

[Claudia_Danysh_2B]

Ya usually I fill in the dots by only putting one on each side and then going around a second time so you I the right number of paired and unpaired electrons!

[Jaclyn Schwartz 1I]

I don't believe there is any official rules to do it. Just that 2 dots are paired and a single is an unpaired electron, so make sure to keep track of that!

[Darren1j]

I was also going to ask if Hund's rule applies to Lewis dot structures because Lavelle had shown Oxygen with 3 pairs of electrons rather than 2 pairs and 2 single electrons around the O.