Lewis dot diagram

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A dot and cross diagram of a molecule of water showing the outer shells of each atom. Here, electrons shared by the hydrogen atoms are crosses and those of the oxygen atom are dots.

A lewis dot diagram or dot and cross diagram is a symbolic diagram of covalent bonding in a molecule. It demonstrates how many electrons each atom of the molecule shares with another. In order to show how many electrons are contributed by each atom without confusion, the electrons of one atom in each bond are shown with dots and the electrons of the other with crosses.

Generally, only the outer electron shell of each atom of the molecule is shown, though additional shells may be shown for completeness.

See Also

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See also: Lewis dot diagram, Atom, Chemistry, Covalent bond, Covalent bonding, Diagram, Electron, Electron shell, Hydrogen