Question

Draw the Lewis structure for H2O. How many lone pairs of electrons are there in the central atom?

Answer 1

2 lone pairs of electrons

Step-by-step explanation:

In this case, the central atom is oxygen. If we check the periodic table we will have an atomic number of 8. So, the electronic configuration would be:

`1s^2~2s^2~2p^4`

We have 6 electrons in the last level. Therefore, we have 6 valence electrons. For the hydrogens, we will have only 1 electron each. So, in total, we have 8 electrons.

With this in mind, we have to draw two lone pairs in the oxygen and 1 bond with each hydrogen.

See figure 1.

I hope it helps!