Chemistry Help! What is electron dot diagram for HCOOH?
HCOOH is also known as formic acid, this is what it looks like http://www.firehouse.com/mz/images/2003/… The dashes represent a bond, a double dash is a double bond. A bond is formed when each atom shares an electron with the other atom. Oxygen has two dashes because it shares 2 electrons, carbon has 4 because it shares 4 and so on. An electron dot diagram shows the electrons in the outer shell that are shared when a covalent bond is formed.