00:02
Hi there.
00:03
In this question, we are trying to determine which of these lewis structures is the correct structure for hfco.
00:10
So we need to recall that in a lewis structure, the correct lewis structure will have the correct number of valence electrons.
00:31
And each element will have an octet.
00:37
That means eight electrons around it.
00:45
There are a couple of other nuances that we will discuss as we come to them looking at this problem.
00:53
All right.
00:54
So let's go ahead.
00:56
And see what the correct number of valence electrons would be for this.
01:02
Well, hydrogen's in group one of the periodic table, so it has one valence electron.
01:06
Fluoring is a halogen, so it has seven.
01:11
Carbon is in group 4a, so it has four valence electrons.
01:15
And oxygen, coming from group 6a, has six valence electrons.
01:20
This gives us a total of 18 valence electrons.
01:24
In other words, our correct structure will have 18 dots because each valence electron is represented by a dot.
01:34
The next thing we want to do is draw a skeleton structure.
01:38
And unless we're told otherwise, we always assume that carbon is in the middle.
01:43
So we will put carbon in the middle and connect it to the other three atoms.
01:50
Now we know there has to be at least a single bond holding these together because they have to be bonded.
01:56
So that's going to take up six of our electrons.
02:00
And now what we want to do is start completing octets.
02:07
All right.
02:07
So so far i've used 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18 electrons.
02:18
So these are all of the dots that i'm allowed to use...