Draw the Lewis structure for SO2
Step
1. Draw the skeletal structure
2. Connect atoms by a single bond
3. Add electrons to each atom to total eight electrons – notice
the there are two electrons in each bond
4. Count up the valence electrons you should have = 6 for sulfur
and 6 for each of 2 oxygens = 6 + 2 x 6 = 18 electrons
5. Your structure has 20 valence electrons – it needs to lose two
while electrons to get down to the 18 from Step 4. Remove any
two nonbonded electrons and, to maintain the octet, slide two
from nonbonded electrons from an adjacent atom into the bond.
6. Now there is the correct number of valence electrons and
each atom is surrounded by 8. Bonds count as two each and
nonbonded electrons count one each.
Progress
O S O
O — S — O
..
..
..
: O — S — O:
¨
¨
¨
..
: O ═ S — O:
¨
¨
¨