Lewis structures:
i. The electron dot structures are called as Lewis structures,
e. g. The Lewis structure of methane is shown below.

ii. All the valence electrons of carbon and hydrogen are shown as dots around them. Two dots drawn between two atoms indicate one covalent bond between them. The covalent bond can be represented by a dash joining mutually bonded atoms.
iii. The dash formula represents simplified Lewis formula of the molecule.
e.g. Dash formula of methane:
