General Rules
For a metal, the total number of dots equals the maximum number
of electrons it loses to form a cation.
For a non-metal, the number of unpaired dots equals the number
of electrons that become paired either through electron gain or
electron sharing. The number of unpaired dots equals either the
negative charge of the anion an atom forms or the number of
covalent bonds it forms.
| Previous slide | Next slide | Back to first slide | View graphic version |