Different equation better

[006248274]

Whats the difference in using s/2 instead of just the number of atoms bonded to the atom(b) in the equation. Is s/2 somehow more universal and accurate?

[Ava_Osborn_3I]

Since technically each line that denotes shared electrons stands for 2 electrons, you have to divide by 2. To make things more simple for me, I typically just count the number of lines instead of counting each line as 2 and then dividing by 2.

[Gitanjali_Sharma_2D]

The s/2 is because the bond contains 2 electrons, but the two atoms on either side of the bond share those 2 electrons so it evens out to them each having 1.