Chemical Bonding: SCl₂ Lewis Structure

Drawing the Lewis Structure for SCl₂

Viewing Notes:

• SCl₂ is similar to the SBr₂ Lewis structure.
• The Lewis structure for SCl₂ has 20 valence electrons available to work with.

Transcript: This is Dr. B. Let's do the SCl2 Lewis structure. On the periodic table, Sulfur—group 6 or 16—has 6 valence electrons. Chlorine, group 7 or 17 has 7; but we have two Chlorines so let's multiply that by 2. Six plus 14 equals 20 valence electrons. Let's put the Sulfur at the center; it's the least electronegative. Put the Chlorines on either side of it and we'll put two electrons between the Sulfur and the Chlorine to form a chemical bond. We've used four.

Then on the outside atoms, the Chlorines, 6, 8, 10, over here 12, 14, 16; and then we go to the center, 18, 20. We've used all our valence electrons. Let's check and see if we have octets. This Chlorine has 8 valence electrons, as does this Chlorine. So they have octets. And then in the center, Sulfur also has 8 valence electrons. So we've used all 20 of the valence electrons. Each of these atoms has an octet, and we're done.

That's the SCl2 Lewis structure: sulfur dichloride. This is Dr. B., thanks for watching.