These Aren't the Same Shapes You Learned in Kindergarten

In Chemistry we have been learning a lot about chemical bonds and how it plays into their shape. To help us learn what element will bond with another element we use the periodic table. The periodic table is organized for this. There are s,p,d,f orbitals on a atom determines how many electrons an atom will contain. To know how many elements will bond with each other or if they will bond at all you have to pay attention to which row it is in on the periodic table. Besides the transitional elements the rows tell how many valence electrons the atom has. All atoms want to have a full valence electron shell of 8 electrons. Without the 8 electrons in the outer shell the atoms are unstable and want to bond to be stable. The only naturally stable atoms are those of noble gases. Although atoms want to be stable there are some that have a few exceptions. Hydrogen is stable with the first energy level being full with 2 electrons, Beryllium is stable with four valence electrons, Boron is stable with 6 valence electrons, and Sulfur can make more than 4 covalent bonds- when atoms share electrons. The way to draw out a chemical bond is with the Lewis structure.

With this we learned what the central atom would be, how many bonds it will make, and what it would bond with. First you count how many electrons the the compound will make. The write the symbol for the element. To show the elements are bonded you draw a line. There could be one to three lines.

One line represents a single bond, two lines represent a double bond , and three lines represent a triple bond. You have to try to make all the atoms stable and if there are any electrons left over you attach them t the central atom by adding 2 dots. Once you have drawn out the Lewis structure it helps you determine the shape of the atom.

You deteremine the shapes by the amount of bonds or the amount of extra left over electrons, Each shape has a different name that has all to do with the shape.