This is the NO2 Lewis structure.
For NO2, we have 5 valence electrons with
the Nitrogen; plus 6 for the Oxygen, we have
2 Oxygens.
So 5 plus 12 equals 17 valence electrons.
Nitrogen is the least electronegative, so
we'll put that in the center, and let's put
an Oxygen on either side.
We have 17 total valence electrons for NO2.
We'll put two between atoms to form a chemical
bond.
Let's go around the Oxygens, form octets.
So we have 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, and
we have one more, we'll just put it right
here.
At this point, we've used all 17 valence electrons.
This Oxygen right here has 8, and this here
has 8.
So the octets are fulfilled for the Oxygens.
For the Nitrogen, however, we only have 5
valence electrons.
We can take these two valence electrons here
and move them between the Nitrogen and the
Oxygen to form a double bond.
Now we still have 8 on this Oyxgen here.
For the Nitrogen we have 7.
For the NO2 Lewis structure, that's the closest
we're going to get to having an octet for
the Nitrogen atom.
So this is the Lewis structure for NO2.
This is Dr. B., thanks for watching.
