Lewis structure of C6H12

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The Lewis structure of C₆H₁₂ contains eighteen single bonds, with six carbons in the center, and each 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 C₆H₁₂.

#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 C₆H₁₂ has six carbon atoms and twelve hydrogen atoms.

So the total number of valence electrons = (valence electrons of carbon atom × 6) + (valence electrons of hydrogen atom × 12)

Therefore, the total number of valence electrons = 24 + 12 = 36

• 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 six carbon atoms in C₆H₁₂. Hence, we can assume any one as the central atom. Let’s assume that top carbon is the central atom.

So now, put six carbons in the center and twelve hydrogens on either side. And draw the rough skeleton structure for the Lewis structure of C₆H₁₂ something like this:

Also read: How to draw Lewis structure of POF₃ (5 steps)

#2 Show chemical bond

Place two electrons between the atoms to show a chemical bond. Since six carbons are surrounded by twelve hydrogens, use thirty-six electrons to show eighteen chemical bonds as follows:

In the above structure, you can see that the octet is completed on the central atom (top 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 H₃PO₃ (5 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 C₆H₁₂ 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 C₆H₁₂.

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

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Related

• Lewis structure of POF₃
• Lewis structure of H₃PO₃
• Lewis structure of CF₃Cl
• Lewis structure of XeCl₃^–
• Lewis structure of XeF₃^–

External links

• Chemical Bonding: C6H12 Lewis Structure – The Geoexchange
• C6H12 lewis structure, molecular geometry, hybridization, bond angle – Topblogtenz
• Cyclohexane | C6H12 | CID 8078 – National Institutes of Health (.gov)
• Below is the Lewis structure of cyclohexane (C6H12) – Chegg
• Dot structure for covalent bond C6H12? – Answers
• Below is the Lewis structure of cyclohexane (C6H12) molecule – OneClass
• What do the skeletal structures of C6H12 look like? – Socratic
• Cyclohexane | Formula, Structure & Density – Study.com
• What is the lewis and lewis dot structure for hexene? – Numerade
• Structural isomers of molecular formula C6H12 – Doc Brown’s Chemistry