Lewis Dot Diagrams and Ions

Each dot on an electron dot structure represents a valence electron.

When grouping dots, remember how electrons are grouped in subshells.​

​

Drawing atomic electron dot diagrams.

Dot Diagrams of atoms

​Cations and anions are depicted in brackets, with the valence electrons inside the brackets and the charge above and to the right.

​

​When the ratio of cation to anion is not 1:1, coefficients are used to show the relative numbers of ions.​

• Lines are drawn to show the bonds between atoms.

• Dots depict the unshared valence electrons.

​

Lewis dot structures of covalent (molecular) compounds.

dot structures of covalent compounds