Lewis Electron-dot Symbols
G.N. Lewis, at the University of California at Berkeley devised a simple way to understand the nature of the chemical bond in both ionic and molecular compounds. His method rests upon focusing on the valence electrons of the elements. He represents these valence electrons as "dots" around the four sides of the elemental symbol.
Recall, it is the valence electrons that are involved in most chemical reactions. Therefore, these Lewis electron-dot symbols should help us understand the chemical properites of these elements.

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C101 Class Notes
Prof. N. De Leon