Sure, let's go through the steps to determine the Lewis structure of an oxygen molecule ([tex]$O_2$[/tex]).
### 1. Count the Total Number of Valence Electrons
Each oxygen atom has 6 valence electrons since it is in group 16 of the periodic table. Therefore, the total number of valence electrons for [tex]$O_{2}$[/tex] is:
[tex]$
6 \text{ (valence electrons per oxygen)} \times 2 \text{ (oxygen atoms)} = 12 \text{ valence electrons}
$[/tex]
### 2. Determine the Central Atom
In diatomic molecules like [tex]$O_2$[/tex], there is no central atom. The two oxygen atoms are bonded directly to each other.
### 3. Place Electrons Around the Atoms to Satisfy the Octet Rule
We start by placing a single bond (two electrons) between the two oxygen atoms.
### 4. Distribute Remaining Electrons to Fulfill the Octet Rule
We initially placed 2 electrons (single bond). Now we have:
[tex]$
12 - 2 = 10 \text{ valence electrons left}
$[/tex]
Next, we place electrons around each oxygen atom to fulfill the octet rule (8 electrons around each atom). Starting with the remaining 10 electrons:
- Add the remaining 10 electrons to the oxygens, trying to fulfill the octet rule:
Add three lone pairs (6 electrons) to each oxygen. Each pair is a set of two electrons.
So now each oxygen has 6 non-bonding electrons (three lone pairs), and we used up all 12 valence electrons. However, this situation would look like this:
```
O: :O
where each " : " represents a lone pair (a set of two electrons).
This would not fulfill the octet rule for each oxygen atom as each would still need more electrons to complete 8.
### 5. Correct the Lewis Structure Through Bonding Adjustments
We can introduce double bonding or triple bonds to satisfy the octet rule:
- We know each oxygen needs 8 valence electrons (including bonding and lone pairs).
We try with double bonding first. So let’s form a double bond between the two oxygen atoms.
### Double Bond Adjustment:
Place a double bond (4 electrons) between the two oxygens:
- We initially placed the single bond (2 electrons) and now add another bond (2 more electrons):
[tex]$
12 - 4 = 8 \text{ valence electrons left}
$[/tex]
Each oxygen atom now:
- Shares 4 electrons (2 shared pairs) and
- Each still needs 4 more electrons to complete their octet.
So we distribute the remaining 8 electrons (4 lone pairs):
Oxygen on the left and Oxygen on the right each get 2 lone pairs (4 electrons each):
##
So the structure now is :
```
..
O=O
..
```
Each line ( = ) represents shared pair of bonding electrons and there are two lone pairs ( .. ) on each oxygen atom which sums up electrons as required:
Each oxygen has 4 bonding electrons and 4 lone electrons summing to 8 around each fulfilling the octet rule.
## Final Lewis Structure:
We finalize this Lewis structure of Oxygen molecule:
The correct Lewis structure of [tex]$O_2$[/tex] is structure B:
```
..
Ö=Ö
..
```
Summary:
-B.
Therefore, the correct Lewis structure corresponds to Option B:
```
Ö = Ö
```
Here, the dashes indicate bonding electrons and the dots represent lone pairs on each atom. This structure satisfies the octet rule and represents the bonding between two oxygen atoms accurately.
