Chemical Bonding: AsH₃ Lewis Structure

Drawing the Lewis Structure for AsH₃ (Arsenic Trihydride)

Viewing Notes:

• The Lewis structure for AsH₃ is similar to AsF₃ structure.
• The Arsenic atom goes in the center of the Lewis structure since it is the least electronegative atom. Remember that Hydrogen (H) atoms always go on the outside of a Lewis structure.
• For the AsH₃ Lewis structure there are a total of 8 valence electrons available.

Transcript: This is the AsH3 Lewis structure: Arsenic Trihydride. As goes at the center, Hydrogens always on the outside. We have three of them. For the AsH3 Lewis structure, we have 5 valence electrons for As, plus 1 for Hydrogen, but we have 3 Hydrogens, for a total of--5+3--8 valence electrons. We'll put 2 valence electrons between the atoms to form the chemical bonds; we've used 6. And then we'll go back to the central atom and put the last 2 up there. Total of 8 valence electrons we've used. Each of the Hydrogens has 2 valence electrons, so its outer shell is full. And the Arsenic atom, that has 8 valence electrons, so it has an octet.

So that's the Lewis structure for AsH3. This is Dr. B., and thanks for watching.