What is the first step in creating a Lewis structure for a molecule?

A. counting the number of lone pairs of electrons

B. counting the number of electron orbitals

C. counting the number of single bonds

D. counting the number of valence electrons

The first step in creating a Lewis structure for a molecule is D. Counting the number of valence electrons for each atom present in the molecule.

I think the correct answer from the choices listed above is option D. The first step in creating a Lewis structure for a molecule is counting the number of valence electrons since these are the electrons which participates in bonding. Hope this answers the question.