What is the Lewis structure of CO2?

1 Answer
Jun 27, 2018

Well, we got #underbrace(2xx6_"oxygen valence electrons"+4_"carbon valence electrons")_"16 electrons to be distributed over THREE centres"#

Explanation:

And the standard Lewis structure is...

#:ddotO=C=ddotO:#

...which distributes 16 electrons, AS REQUIRED....

Because there are TWO regions of electron density situated around the central carbon, carbon dioxide is LINEAR with #/_O-C-O=180^@#...