Final answer:
The Lewis structure for an oxygen atom with the electron configuration of 1s²2s²2p⁴ shows six valence electrons around the oxygen symbol.
Step-by-step explanation:
The electron configuration of an oxygen atom is 1s²2s²2p⁴. This means that oxygen has a total of six valence electrons that must be accounted for in the Lewis structure. In drawing the Lewis structure for an atom of oxygen, we need to place these electrons around the oxygen atom to fulfill the octet rule as much as possible.
Each electron pair in the 1s and 2s orbitals can be represented as a pair of dots, and the three 2p orbitals will have one electron each with the fourth electron pairing up in one of these orbitals. The Lewis structure for an oxygen atom would thus be represented as:
O⬤⬤
where the dots represent the six valence electrons of oxygen.