Lewis structure of SiH4

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The Lewis structure of SiH₄ contains four single bonds, with silicon in the center, and four hydrogens on either side. There are no lone pairs on both silicon atom and hydrogen atom.

Steps

By using the following steps, you can easily draw the Lewis structure of SiH₄:

#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… silicon is a group 14 element and hydrogen is a group 1 element. Hence, silicon has four valence electrons and hydrogen has one valence electron.

Now SiH₄ has one silicon atom and four hydrogen atoms.

So the total number of valence electrons = valence electrons of silicon 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 silicon is the central atom.

So now, put silicon in the center and hydrogens on either side. And draw the rough skeleton structure for the Lewis structure of SiH₄ something like this:

Also read: How to draw Lewis structure of N₂H₂ (5 steps)

#2 Show chemical bond

Place two electrons between the atoms to show a chemical bond. Since silicon 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 (silicon), 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 NOCl (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 silicon 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 SiH₄ looks something like this:

In the above structure, you can see that the formal charges of both (silicon and hydrogen) are zero. Therefore, this is the stable Lewis structure of SiH₄.

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

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Related

• Lewis structure of N₂H₂
• Lewis structure of NOCl
• Lewis structure of CH₃COOH
• Lewis structure of ClO^–
• Lewis structure of Cl₂O

External video

• SiH4 Lewis Structure – How to Draw the Lewis Structure for SiH4 (Silicon Tetrahydride) – YouTube • Wayne Breslyn

External links

• SiH4 Lewis Structure in 6 Steps (With Images) – Pediabay
• Draw the Lewis structure for SiH4 – Chegg
• Draw the Lewis structure for SiH4 – Homework.Study.com
• Silicon Tetrahydride, SiH4 Molecular Geometry & Polarity – Tutor-Homework.com
• SiH4 Lewis Structure (Silicon Tetrahydride) – Pinterest
• Chemical Bonding: SiH4 Lewis Structure – The Geoexchange
• Draw a Lewis structure for SiH4 – Course Hero