Where to start putting dots for electrons

[Victoria Zheng--2F]

When we put dots to represent valence electrons for elements, is there any rule on where (start putting dots on the left side, right side, etc.) to start drawing the dots?

[Sahil Jog 1F]

There is no rule on where to start putting the electrons in the Lewis structure. However, the Lewis structure still needs to acknowledge whether the electrons are unpaired or paired, and depending on this, we may choose to put two electrons on one side (indicating that they are paired), or just one (indicating that they are not paired).

[simmoneokamoto3K]

There aren't any rules as to where to start putting electrons, however there are rules once we start learning about formal charge on what's the most ideal configuration of certain electrons to attain neutral charge, but don't worry about that for now.

[Baoying Li 1B]

There's actually no rules of putting the dots for electrons. As long as you put the right number of valence electons, you will be fine. Make sure that pair up two electrons first and the put the next eletron.

[nicole-2B]

There are no rules but I was taught that you should put a pair of valence electrons on each element before putting another pair on the first element you did

[Junwei Sun 4I]

There are no specific rules on where to start putting dots but when dots are put around an atom it has to reflect whether the electrons are paired or not. Therefore when you put dots around an atom you always put four separate dots on four sides first.

[Jasmine Vallarta 2L]

You can just start on any side of the atom

[Kelvin Chung 1C]

If an atom, such as oxygen, forms a double bond and has two lone pairs of electrons, should I draw the dots for the lone pairs on diagonal sides of the O (on the other side of the double bond lines), rather than on the top and the bottom?

[Siya Shah 1J]

If an atom, such as oxygen, forms a double bond and has two lone pairs of electrons, should I draw the dots for the lone pairs on diagonal sides of the O (on the other side of the double bond lines), rather than on the top and the bottom?

Personally, I like placing the lone pairs on the top and bottom as it is neater, but I do not think there is a specific rule against doing that.

[Destiny_Ryales_3J]

What does it mean by placing the dots on the diagonal sides when a double bond is present?

[rachel liu 3k]

When we put dots to represent valence electrons for elements, is there any rule on where (start putting dots on the left side, right side, etc.) to start drawing the dots?

Like everyone else has said, there is no rule, but make sure to follow Hund's Rule. Put one valence electron in per orital first, and then go back around if there are more electrons to fill up the second spot in the orbital.