How many ‘dots’ are around a neutral atom of nitrogen in a Lewis dot structure?
The Correct Answer and Explanation is:
The correct answer is: 5 dots
Explanation:
In a Lewis dot structure, the “dots” represent valence electrons, which are the electrons found in the outermost shell of an atom. These electrons are important because they participate in chemical bonding.
Step 1: Determine the atomic number of nitrogen
Nitrogen has an atomic number of 7, meaning it has 7 protons and, in a neutral atom, 7 electrons.
Step 2: Find the number of valence electrons
Electrons are arranged in shells around the nucleus. The first shell holds up to 2 electrons, and the second shell holds up to 8. The electron configuration of nitrogen is:
1s² 2s² 2p³
- The first shell has 2 electrons (1s²)
- The second shell has 5 electrons (2s² 2p³)
These 5 electrons in the second shell are nitrogen’s valence electrons.
Step 3: Represent valence electrons as dots
In a Lewis dot structure, we place one dot for each valence electron around the chemical symbol of the element. Since nitrogen has 5 valence electrons, we draw 5 dots around the letter “N”.
These dots are typically placed one at a time on the four sides of the symbol (top, bottom, left, right) before pairing them. So, you would place:
- One dot on each of three sides
- One additional dot on two of those sides to make one or two pairs
This reflects nitrogen’s tendency to form three bonds in many compounds, like ammonia (NH₃).
Summary:
A neutral nitrogen atom has 5 valence electrons, so its Lewis dot structure has 5 dots around the symbol “N”. This visual helps predict bonding behavior and molecular structure.
