Lone Pairs

[Mya Majewski 1L]

When doing a Lewis Structure, how do you know if an element has a lone pair or more than one lone pair?

[Stevie Wisz]

Lone pairs are pairs of electrons that are not bonded to any other elements. So, if the central atom contains a set of two electrons (pair) that are not bonded to any other element they are classified as a lone pair. With that said, if there is an elements that has multiple pairs of these lone pairs of electrons then you can say there is more than one pair. But, if it only has one set of a lone pair then it has one.