To draw the Lewis dot structure for ClO (chlorine monoxide), we start by determining the total number of valence electrons available. Chlorine (Cl) has 7 valence electrons, and oxygen (O) has 6 valence electrons, which gives us a total of 13 valence electrons for ClO.
Next, we place the atoms. Chlorine can be the central atom because it is less electronegative than oxygen. We then connect the two atoms with a single bond, which uses up 2 electrons from our total, leaving us with 11 electrons.
We now distribute the remaining valence electrons. First, we complete the octet for the more electronegative atom, which is oxygen. We place 6 electrons (3 lone pairs) around oxygen. This uses 6 of our remaining electrons, leaving us with 5 electrons.
We can use the remaining 5 electrons to put one lone pair on chlorine and one lone pair on oxygen. However, oxygen will not have a complete octet with just 6 electrons in its outer shell. Thus, we can form a double bond between chlorine and oxygen, giving chlorine 8 electrons (counting the bond) and oxygen also getting 8 electrons.
The final Lewis structure shows a double bond between Cl and O, with one lone pair still remaining on chlorine. This results in a structure where chlorine has 7 electrons (6 from the double bond and 1 from its lone pair) and oxygen has 8 electrons (4 from the double bond and 4 from its lone pairs).
In summary, the Lewis dot structure for ClO consists of a chlorine atom double-bonded to an oxygen atom with a lone pair on chlorine. Here’s how it looks:
.. :Cl: || :O: ..