Determine the number of bonding electrons and the number non

Determine the number of bonding electrons and the number non-bonding electrons in the structure XeF2.

Solution

Step 1: Find valence e- for all atoms. Add them together. Xe:8 F:7x2=14 Total=22 Step2: Find octet e- for each atom and add them together. Xe:10* F:8x2=16 *Xe should get 10 electrons for its octet so that it can form 2 bonds with side atoms. Total=26 Step3: Gives you bonding e-. Subtract step 1 total from step 2 26-22=4e- Step 4: Find number of bonds by diving the number in step 3 by 2(because each bond is made of 2 e-) 4e-/2= 2 bond pairs Step 5: Find the number of nonbonding (lone pairs) e-. Subtract step 3 number from step 1. 22-4= 18e-=9 lone pairs Use information from step 4 and 5 to draw the lewis structure. Lewis dot structure of Xef2 Alternatively a dot method can be used to draw the lewis structure. Calculate the total valence electrons in the molecule. Xe:8 F:7x2=14 Total=22 Put Xenon in center and arrange chlorine atoms on the sides.Arrange electrons until fluorine atoms get 8 electrons.( Xenon gets 10 electrons, which is an expanded octet)