Which of the following is the best Lewis dot symbol for carbon?

• A. C with eight dots surrounding it
• B. C with two dots on one side
• C. C with six dots arranged as three pairs
• D. C with four dots arranged as one on each side

Answer: (D)

Verified step by step guidance

1. Recall that a Lewis dot symbol represents the valence electrons of an atom as dots placed around the element's symbol.
2. Determine the number of valence electrons for carbon. Carbon is in group 14 (or IV) of the periodic table, so it has 4 valence electrons.
3. Understand that the Lewis dot symbol places one dot for each valence electron around the symbol, typically starting by placing one dot on each side before pairing them.
4. Evaluate the options: a symbol with eight dots would imply 8 valence electrons, which is incorrect for carbon; two dots on one side only represent 2 electrons, which is too few; six dots arranged as three pairs represent 6 electrons, which is also incorrect.
5. Conclude that the best Lewis dot symbol for carbon is the one with four dots arranged as one on each side, representing its 4 valence electrons correctly.