Lewis Structure Online Practice

Acetic acid Lewis structure

Drawing Lewis structures is a very difficult thing to do on the computer.  Over the years, my class has been moving ever so slowly toward more online content.  One area of chemistry I have found find nearly impossible to go digital is the drawing of Lewis structures.  No matter what I have found, it is almost always easier to have the students use paper and pencil.  There are some interesting programs and apps out there, but in the end, students still need to draw them.

With this being said, here are two interesting Lewis structure "drawing" sites that I have recently found.  Although, neither of these sites allows the students to "draw" the Lewis structures, I still believe they have some educational value.   Let me explain!

St. Olaf College's Construct a Lewis Structure

Wow, Disney's Olaf has been sainted and has a college named after him?  I bet this university was happy with the success of Frozen.

Scree shot of St. Olaf College's Lewis Structure Program

Anyhow, this is nice little program for students to practice Lewis structures.  The site lists the general rules for drawing Lewis structures and then provides the student with the skeleton, i.e. only containing the single bonds, of the structure.  It is up to the student to complete the octet for each atom by adding double bonds, triple bonds and lone-pair electrons.  I think this is a good place for some students to start "drawing" the Lewis structures.   From a students perspective, much of the tediousness of drawing Lewis structures is removed.  After using this, I would still have my students draw Lewis structures on whiteboards and on paper.

http://www.stolaf.edu/depts/chemistry/courses/toolkits/121/js/lewis/

Wolfram-Alpha Widgets: Lewis Structures

Again this program doesn't actually allow students to draw Lewis structures either, but here is how I use it with my students.  Often students what to know if their Lewis structure is correct, especially when they are working on homework or studying for a test.

Screen shot of Wolfram-Alpha Widget: Lewis Structures

Wolfram's Lewis structure widget is great for letting students know if their structures are correct.  All they have to do is enter the formula into the site and the Lewis structure is immediately drawn for them.  My students love to know if they are correct and this saves me from having to look at and grade every single Lewis structure.

The nice thing about this widget is that it provides the student with all the various isomers that my form along with the nomenclature.

http://www.wolframalpha.com/widgets/view.jsp?id=689aa5a01c216d8b16ed0250cebdc702


Even though we a ways from completely replacing paper, especially when it comes to Lewis structures, there are still some worth while programs and apps out there.  If you have one that you use or feel works better than these two please comment!  I would love to hear from you.

Thanks,
Dan