Lewis structure of C3H8

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The Lewis structure of C₃H₈ contains ten single bonds, with three carbons in the center. The left carbon and right carbon are attached with three hydrogens, and center carbon is attached with two hydrogens. Both hydrogen atom and carbon atom do not have any lone pair.

Steps

By using the following steps, you can easily draw the Lewis structure of C₃H₈.

#1 Draw skeleton
#2 Show chemical bond
#3 Calculate formal charge and check stability (if there are no lone pairs and octet is already completed on central atom)

Let’s one by one discuss each step in detail.

#1 Draw Skeleton

In this step, first calculate the total number of valence electrons. And then, decide the central atom.

• Let’s calculate the total number of valence electrons

We know that… carbon is a group 14 element and hydrogen is a group 1 element. Hence, carbon has four valence electrons and hydrogen has one valence electron.

Now C₃H₈ has three carbon atoms and eight hydrogen atoms.

So the total number of valence electrons = (valence electrons of carbon atom × 3) + (valence electrons of hydrogen atom × 8)

Therefore, the total number of valence electrons = 12 + 8 = 20

• Now decide the central atom

We can not assume hydrogen as the central atom, because the central atom is bonded with at least two other atoms. And hydrogen has only one electron in its last shell, so it can not make more than one bond.

Therefore, choose carbon as the central atom.

But there are three carbon atoms in C₃H₈. Hence, we can assume any one as the central atom. Let’s assume that center carbon is the central atom.

So now, put three carbons in the center and eight hydrogens on either side. And draw the rough skeleton structure for the Lewis structure of C₃H₈ something like this:

Also read: How to draw Lewis structure of IF₄^– (4 steps)

#2 Show chemical bond

Place two electrons between the atoms to show a chemical bond. Since three carbons are surrounded by eight hydrogens, use twenty electrons to show ten chemical bonds as follows:

In the above structure, you can see that the octet is completed on the central atom (center carbon), and also on the outside atoms. Therefore, the octet rule is satisfied.

After completing the octet, one last thing we need to do is, calculate the formal charge and check the stability of the above structure.

Also read: How to draw Lewis structure of ICl₃ (4 steps)

#3 Calculate formal charge and check stability

The following formula is used to calculate the formal charges on atoms:

Formal charge = valence electrons – nonbonding electrons – ½ bonding electrons

Collect the data from the above structure and then, write it down below as follows:

• For each carbon atom

Valence electrons = 4
Nonbonding electrons = 0
Bonding electrons = 8

Formal charge = 4 – 0 – ½ (8) = 0

• For each hydrogen atom

Valence electrons = 1
Nonbonding electrons = 0
Bonding electrons = 2

Formal charge = 1 – 0 – ½ (2) = 0

Mention the formal charges of atoms on the structure. So the Lewis structure of C₃H₈ looks something like this:

In the above structure, you can see that the formal charges of both (carbon and hydrogen) are zero. Therefore, this is the stable Lewis structure of C₃H₈.

And each horizontal line drawn in the above structure represents a pair of bonding valence electrons.

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Related

• Lewis structure of IF₄^–
• Lewis structure of ICl₃
• Lewis structure of ClF₅
• Lewis structure of SF₃^–
• Lewis structure of CH₃CN

External links

• Chemical Bonding: C3H8 Lewis Structure – The Geoexchange
• C3H8 Lewis structure, Molecular geometry, Polar or nonpolar, Hybridization – Topblogtenz
• What is the Lewis Structure of C3H8 – AceOrganicChem
• C3H8 (Propane) Lewis Structure in 6 Steps (With Images) – Pediabay
• C3H8 Lewis Structure (Propane) – Pinterest
• Draw the Lewis structure of C3H8 – Chegg
• Propane (CH3CH2CH3 / C3H8) Lewis Structure – Chemistry School
• Make a model of propane (C3H8), and draw this model using dashed lines and wedges to represent bonds going back and coming forward – Pearson
• Draw the Lewis structure of C3H8. How many double bonds are there? – Numerade
• draw the lewis structure for propane c3h8 – Brainly
• Draw the Lewis dot structure for propane (C3H8) showing all bonding and non-bonding electron pairs – OneClass
• Draw a Lewis structure for C3H8 and another for CH3CH₂NH2 on your paper – Bartleby
• How is the chemical structure of C3H8 determined? – Quora