Drawing Lewis Structures

[Mario Reyes 1C]

When drawing a lewis structure, why do we choose the atom with the lowest ionization energy as the central atom?

[Chem_Mod]

The central atom is forced to share its valence e- with the atoms its bonded to. Atoms with a low ionization energy are able to give up their e- more easily and thus can share these e-. Therefore having the central atom be the atom with the lowest ionization energy is favored.

[Chem_Mod]

If an atom has low ionization energy, it means that it is easy to form an ion. The central atom of a molecule is usually connected to multiple other atoms, so the central atom would can better hold on to other atoms by acquiring a charge itself.

[Endri Dis 1J]

When we draw Lewis structures and we have to use a double bond like in CH20 does the order or side where the double bond is drawn matter?

[Elizabeth Parker 1K]

It doesn't matter right now because it just makes resonance structures. But I think it might change things for three dimensional forms.

[Gianna Graziano 1A]

Hi Endri,
It does not matter in this case, it is one form of a few resonance structures. Basically this means that a Lewis Structure can be drawn in more ways than one.