Draw the Lewis Structure for HF

The Lewis structure for hydrogen fluoride (HF) can be drawn by following these simple steps:

1. Count the Total Valence Electrons: Hydrogen (H) has 1 valence electron, and fluorine (F) has 7 valence electrons. So, the total number of valence electrons for HF is 1 + 7 = 8 valence electrons.
2. Determine the Central Atom: In this case, hydrogen is usually the terminal atom because it can only bond with one atom, while fluorine is the more electronegative atom.
3. Draw the Bonds: Connect the hydrogen atom to the fluorine atom with a single bond, which accounts for 2 of the 8 valence electrons.
4. Distribute Remaining Electrons: After forming the H-F bond, we have 6 valence electrons left. Place these remaining electrons around the fluorine atom to complete its octet. Each pair of dots represents a lone pair of electrons.

The final Lewis structure looks like this:

H – :F:

Here, the colon (:) represents the lone pairs on fluorine. This structure shows that hydrogen forms a single bond with fluorine, resulting in a stable molecule of hydrogen fluoride. The fluorine atom has a full octet, satisfying the octet rule, and hydrogen has a full shell with its single bond.