CH3NO2 Lewis Structure in 6 Steps (With Images)

So you have seen the above image by now, right?

Let me explain the above image in short.

CH3NO2 lewis structure has a Carbon atom (C) at the center which is surrounded by three Hydrogen atoms (H) and one NO2 group. There are three C-H bonds, two N-O bonds and one C-N bond. There are 3 lone pairs on the single Oxygen atoms and 2 lone pairs on the double bonded Oxygen atom. 

If you haven’t understood anything from the above image of CH3NO2 lewis structure, then just stick with me and you will get the detailed step by step explanation on drawing a lewis structure of CH3NO2.

So let’s move to the steps of drawing the lewis structure of CH3NO2.

Steps of drawing CH3NO2 lewis structure

Step 1: Find the total valence electrons in CH3NO2 molecule

In order to find the total valence electrons in a CH3NO2 molecule, first of all you should know the valence electrons present in carbon atom, hydrogen atom, nitrogen atom as well as oxygen atom.
(Valence electrons are the electrons that are present in the outermost orbit of any atom.)

Here, I’ll tell you how you can easily find the valence electrons of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen as well as oxygen using a periodic table.

Total valence electrons in CH3NO2 molecule

→ Valence electrons given by carbon atom:

Carbon is group 14 element on the periodic table. ^[1] Hence the valence electrons present in carbon is 4.

You can see the 4 valence electrons present in the carbon atom as shown in the above image.

→ Valence electrons given by hydrogen atom:

Hydrogen is group 1 element on the periodic table. ^[2] Hence the valence electron present in hydrogen is 1.

You can see that only 1 valence electron is present in the hydrogen atom as shown in the above image.

→ Valence electrons given by nitrogen atom:

Nitrogen is a group 15 element on the periodic table. ^[3] Hence the valence electrons present in nitrogen is 5.

You can see the 5 valence electrons present in the nitrogen atom as shown in the above image.

→ Valence electrons given by oxygen atom:

Oxygen is group 16 element on the periodic table. ^[4] Hence the valence electrons present in oxygen is 6.

You can see the 6 valence electrons present in the oxygen atom as shown in the above image.

Hence, 

Total valence electrons in CH3NO2 molecule = valence electrons given by 1 carbon atom + valence electrons given by 3 hydrogen atoms + valence electrons given by 1 nitrogen atom + valence electrons given by 2 oxygen atoms = 4 + 1(3) + 5 + 6(2) = 24.

Step 2: Select the central atom

For selecting the center atom, you have to remember that the atom which is less electronegative remains at the center.

(Remember: If hydrogen is present in the given molecule, then always put hydrogen outside.)

Now here the given molecule is CH3NO2 and it contains carbon atom (C), hydrogen atoms (H), nitrogen atom (N) and oxygen atom (O).

So as per the rule we have to keep hydrogen outside.

Now, you can see the electronegativity values of carbon atom (C), nitrogen atom (N) and oxygen atom (O) in the above periodic table.

If we compare the electronegativity values of carbon (C), nitrogen atom (N) and oxygen (O) then the carbon atom is less electronegative.

So here the carbon atom (C) is the center atom and the hydrogen atoms as well as NO2 group will surround it.

Step 3: Connect each atoms by putting an electron pair between them

Now in the CH3NO2 molecule, you have to put the electron pairs between the atoms.

This indicates that the atoms are chemically bonded with each other in a CH3NO2 molecule.

Step 4: Make the outer atoms stable

Now in this step, you have to check the stability of the outer atoms.

Here in the sketch of CH3NO2 molecule, you can see that the outer atoms are hydrogen atoms and oxygen atoms.

These hydrogen atoms and oxygen atoms are forming a duplet and octet respectively and hence they are stable.

Also, in step 1 we have calculated the total number of valence electrons present in the CH3NO2 molecule.

The CH3NO2 molecule has a total 24 valence electrons and all these valence electrons are used in the above sketch of CH3NO2.

Hence there are no remaining electron pairs to be kept on the central atoms. 

So now let’s proceed to the next step.

Step 5: Check the octet on the central atom

In this step, you have to check whether the central carbon atom (C) and nitrogen atom (N) are stable or not.

In order to check the stability of these atoms, we have to check whether they are forming an octet or not.

You can see from the above picture that the carbon atom is forming an octet, but the nitrogen is not forming an octet. Nitrogen has only 6 electrons and it is unstable.

Now to make this nitrogen atom stable, you have to shift the electron pair from the outer oxygen atom so that the nitrogen atom can have 8 electrons (i.e octet).

After shifting this electron pair, the nitrogen atom will get 2 more electrons and thus its total electrons will become 8.

You can see from the above picture that the nitrogen atom is forming an octet as it has 8 electrons.

You can see that all the atoms in the above lewis structure are stable and there is no further change in the above structure of CH3NO2.

In the above lewis dot structure of CH3NO2, you can also represent each bonding electron pair (:) as a single bond (|). By doing so, you will get the following lewis structure of CH3NO2.

I hope you have completely understood all the above steps.

For more practice and better understanding, you can try other lewis structures listed below.

Try (or atleast See) these lewis structures for better understanding:

About author

Jay Rana

Jay is an educator and has helped more than 100,000 students in their studies by providing simple and easy explanations on different science-related topics. He is a founder of Pediabay and is passionate about helping students through his easily digestible explanations.

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