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

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.

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.