Chemical Bonding: CCl₄ Lewis Structure

Drawing the Lewis Structure for CCl₄ (Carbon Tetachloride)

Viewing Notes:

• The Lewis structure for CCl₄ is similar to CF₄. Since they are in the same Group on the periodic table they each have the same number of electrons (7) their structures are similar.
• For the CCl₄ Lewis structure there are a total of 32 valence electrons available.

Transcript: Hi, this is Dr. B. Let's do the Lewis structure for CCl4, Carbon Tetrachloride, sometimes just called Carbon Tet. We'll start by looking at the valence electrons. Carbon is in group 4 or 14, so it has 4. Chlorine has 7 valence electrons, but we have 4 Chlorines so let's multiply that by 4. Four plus 28 equals 32 total valence electrons to work with. Carbon is the least electronegative, we'll put that at the center, and then we'll put the four Chlorines around it like this.

OK, so now we've got 32 valence electrons to work with. We'll form chemical bonds first between the Carbon and the Chlorines. So we've done that, we've used 8 valence electrons. Now let's fulfill the octets on the Chlorines, so we have 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, and then 32. We've used all 32 valence electrons.

Now we want to see if we have octets. All of the Chlorines have 8 valence electrons around them. That means that their outer shells are full and that they have octets. In the center, the Carbon has 8 valence electrons so its octet is full as well. So we've actually satisfied the octets. We've used all 32 of the valence electrons available. We could write it as well as a structural formula that would look like this right here.

That's it—that's the Lewis structure for CCl4, Carbon Tetrachloride. This is Dr. B., and thanks for watching.