Covalent Bonds, Lewis Structures, and the Octet Rule

3 Covalent Bonds Lewis Structures, and the Octet Rule 

The covalent, or shared electron pair, model of chemical bonding was first suggested by G. N. Lewis of the University of California in 1916. Lewis proposed that a sharing of two electrons by two hydrogen atoms permits each one to have a stable closed-shell electron configuration analogous to helium. 

Two hydrogen atoms, each with a single electron 

Hydrogen molecule covalent bonding by way of a shared electron pair 

Structural formulas of this type in which electrons are represented as dots are called Lewis structures It is customary to represent a shared electron-pair bond by a dash (—). Thus, H H becomes H—H. 

---