Lewis Dot Structures

Predicting compound structures and properties using a simple theory.

Atoms have a Lewis Dot Symbol with a dot for each valence electron

H Ca

Binary Ionic Compounds

Binary - only two elements in the compound. Ionic - compound with metal and nonmetal elements (99% of the time)

Lewis Dots- the valence electrons

The total of the number of valence electrons determines how many DOTS! Each element has the valence electrons = group #.

. K
group 1

Lewis Dots- the valence electrons

Find the group number from the periodic table ( it is the number at the top of the column). These are the electrons that will participate in bonding.

. :S: .
group 6

IONIC BONDS - Transfer of Electrons from metal to nonmetal

Metal transfers all of the electrons in its valence shell, so that it leaves the filled shell beneath. Nonmetal accepts enough electrons so that it has 8 in its valence shell.

electron

Lithium Fluoride: Binary Ionic

Li atom F atom

3p 2e 1e

9p

2e 7e

Lithium Fluoride: Binary Ionic

Li+1 ion F-1 ion

3p 2e

9p

2e 8e

Charge = #p - #e

Or you could use the dots!

Li F

Lithium atom
Li+1

Fluorine atom
[ F ]-1

Calcium Sulfide: an Ionic Compound.

Ca is a metal with 2 valence electrons. It loses them to make Ca+2 ion. S is a nonmetal with 6 valence electrons. It gains 2 electrons to make 8. Sulfide ion is S-2.

Ca
calcium

S
sulfur

+2[ Ca

-2 ]

calcium sulfide

Potassium Nitride: an Ionic Compound.

+1 K
+1[ K +1 K

-3 ]

potassium nitride

K is a metal with 1 valence electron that it transfers to form K+1. N is a nonmetal with 5 valence electrons. It must gain 3 electrons to make 8 and N-3. That means 3 K must transfer their electrons to each N.

Aluminum Oxide: an Ionic Compound.

[O
+3 Al

-2 ]

[O
+3 Al

-2 ]
-2 ]

[O

Al is a metal with 3 valence electron that it transfers to form Al+3. O is a nonmetal with 6 valence electrons. It must gain 2 electrons to make 8 and O-2. That means 2 Al must transfer their electrons to three O. Notice the sum of ALL charges equals zero. (3+3+ -2+ -2+ -2 = 0)

TO WRITE A BINARY IONIC LEWIS DOT STRUCTURE:

Write the metal ion with its positive charge. Write the nonmetal ion surrounded by 8 dots in square brackets with its negative charge.

Na+1 [ Cl ] -1

metal nonmetal

Did you notice a pattern?

All group 1 metals start with 1 valence electron, so they all make an ion with the charge of +1 examples: Li+1, Na+1 All group 2 metals start with 2 valence electrons, so they all make an ion with the charge of +2 examples: Ca+2, Mg+2 All group 3 metals start with 3 valence electrons, charge +3 example: Al+3

For the nonmetals the pattern is..

Group 7 elements need 1 electron to make 8 so they have a -1 charge ion. Examples: F -1, Cl -1, Br -1, I -1 Group 6 elements need 2 electrons to make 8 so they have a -2 charge ion. Examples: O-2, S-2, Se-2 Group 5 elements need 3 electrons so they have a -3 charge ion. Example: N-3

Naming Binary Ionic Compounds

Name the metal first Name the nonmetal second using an ide ending, i.e. oxide NEVER use prefixes to tell how many of each element is present! That is only done for covalent.

Formula to Name
NaCl is sodium chloride BeBr2 is beryllium bromide note that no prefix is used! Al2S3 is aluminum sulfide K2O is potassium oxide MgI2 is magnesium iodide

Name to Formula (Harder)

lithium sulfide look up the charge on each ion first Li+1 and S-2 the charges must total to zero so that means there must be 2(+1) + 1(-2) = 0 lithium sulfide is Li2S. calcium fluoride......... Ca+2 and F -1 so CaF2 is the formula

Try these Names to Formula

Sodium

phosphide Magnesium iodide Aluminum bromide Barium sulfide

Try these Names to Formula

Sodium

phosphide Na3P Magnesium iodide MgI2 Aluminum bromide AlBr3 Barium sulfide BaS

Start thinking about the next lecture

Metals that form ions of more than one charge..aka variable charge metals

Variable Charge Metals

These are metals other than those in group 1 and 2 plus Al+3, Zn+2, Ag+1, Cd+2. Example: Fe is commonly found as Fe+2 and Fe+3. FeO is called iron (II) oxide where the roman numeral 2 is the charge on the iron. Fe2O3 is iron (III) oxide, the charge on iron is +3.

In-class assignment
1)

Draw the Lewis Dot structures for: KI and Na3P 2) Name KI and Na3P 3) Write the formula and Lewis Dot structures for: sodium sulfide and calcium bromide