The Lewis Structure Generator that we put in your hands here is an excellent tool to obtain structures of more than 400 molecules.
To use the Lewis Structure Calculator follow these steps:
In addition to the Lewis structure calculator, here is a summary of the main theoretical concepts related to Lewis dot diagrams and some examples.
The formation of a chemical bond (ionic and covalent) involves the transfer of electrons or the exchange of electrons. Lewis structures can be used to represent valence shell electrons in a chemical bond.
The Lewis structure, proposed by Gilbert Newton Lewis, who introduced it for the first time in 1916, is a graphic representation of the sharing of electrons that occurs in chemical bonds between atoms of the same or different species. These bonds can be single, double, or triple.
These type diagrams are a simplified representation of the valence shell electrons in a molecule. Lewis structures can be made for molecules that contain covalent bonds and for coordination compounds. The reason is that electrons are shared in a covalent bond. In an ionic bond, it is more like one atom donating an electron to the other atom.
Given a chemical formula corresponding to a molecule or molecular ion, the steps to obtain its Lewis structure are as follows:
Note that there are some cases where the best Lewis structure has an incomplete octet on a central atom. Since it is often possible to draw more than one valid Lewis structure for a molecule or molecular ion, we will need to assess which ones are more plausible or make better chemical sense. As noted above, formal charge is used as a guide in that zero or a minimum total number of formal charges is generally best, and the formal charge of an atom is considered relative to its electronegativity. Remember, a Lewis structure is not the molecule, but just a graphical representation intended to convey certain information about it. Such a representation informs the prediction of the likely physical or chemical properties of the actual molecule or of the bulk substance that is composed of those molecules. One of the most common uses we make of a valid Lewis structure (and for this we don’t need the best Lewis structure, just any valid one) is to predict molecular shape and polarity.
All structures in the examples have been generated with the Lewis structure calculator.