Lewis structure of CH4

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The Lewis structure of CH₄ contains four single bonds, with carbon in the center, and four hydrogens on either side. There are no lone pairs on both carbon atom and hydrogen atom.

Steps

By using the following steps, you can easily draw the Lewis structure of CH₄:

#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 CH₄ has one carbon atom and four hydrogen atoms.

So the total number of valence electrons = valence electrons of carbon atom + (valence electrons of hydrogen atom × 4)

Therefore, the total number of valence electrons = 4 + 4 = 8

• 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.

Hence, assume that carbon is the central atom.

So now, put carbon in the center and hydrogens on either side. And draw the rough skeleton structure for the Lewis structure of CH₄ something like this:

Also read: How to draw Lewis structure of CH₂O (5 steps)

#2 Show chemical bond

Place two electrons between the atoms to show a chemical bond. Since carbon is surrounded by four hydrogens, use eight electrons to show four chemical bonds as follows:

In the above structure, you can see that the octet is completed on the central atom (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 O₂ (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 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 CH₄ 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 CH₄.

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

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Related

• Lewis structure of CH₂O
• Lewis structure of O₂
• Lewis structure of CO
• Lewis structure of C₂H₄
• Lewis structure of BF₃

External video

• CH4 Lewis Structure – How to Draw the Dot Structure for CH4 (Methane) – Wayne Breslyn

External links

• Lewis Structure for CH4 (Methane) – The University of Maryland
• CH4 Lewis Structure in 6 Steps (With Images) – Pediabay
• CH4 Lewis Structure, Molecular Geometry, and Hybridization – Techiescientist
• CH4 Lewis Structure, Hybridization, Molecular Geometry, Bond Angle and Shape – Geometry of Molecules
• Methane (CH4) Molecule Lewis Structure – Chemistry School
• CH4 lewis structure, Molecular geometry, Bond angle, Valence electrons – Topblogtenz
• CH4 Lewis Structure & Molecular Geometry – What’s Insight
• What is the Lewis structure of methane? – Homework.Study.com
• Lewis Structure of CH4 (Methane), Shape & Hybridization – Science Coverage
• How to draw CH4 Lewis Structure? – Science Education and Tutorials
• CH4 Lewis Structure, Geometry – Kemicalinfo
• How can you determine the Lewis structure for CH4? – Quora
• Chemical Bonding: Electron Dot Structure for CH4 – The Geoexchange
• Draw the Lewis Structure for CH4 – Chegg
• VSEPR calculation for methane, CH4 – University of Sheffield
• Lewis Dot of Methane CH4 – Kent’s Chemistry
• The Lewis Dot Structure for CH4 – MakeTheBrainHappy
• Molecular Geometry of Methane (CH4) – Chemistry Learner
• Draw the Lewis structure for methane (CH4) and ethane (C2H6) – Brainly
• Draw the Lewis structure of methane (CH4) – Bartleby
• Methane, CH4 Molecular Geometry & Polarity – Tutor-Homework.com
• Draw the Lewis structure for methane, CH4. According to VSEPR theory, what is the molecular geometry of methane? What are the predicted bond angles? – OneClass