To draw the Lewis structure of C2H6O we first need to determine the number of valence electrons around carbon, hydrogen and oxygen.

How many valence electrons around carbon, hydrogen and oxygen?

Answer

Carbon has 4 valence electrons, oxygen 6 valence electrons and hydrogen has 1 valence electrons.

We can write the Lewis structure for the atoms showing the valence electrons as,

To draw the Lewis structure we now try arranging the two carbon atoms, six hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom so both carbon and oxygen have/share eight electrons and hydrogen has/shares two electrons.

Try drawing the two possible structures on your own. Answer

Just show me how Dr. Gelder would draw the structures!