How many lone pairs of electron are there on the central atom of the H2O molecules?

Answer Details

The central atom in a water molecule (H2O) is oxygen. Oxygen has six valence electrons, two of which are shared with two hydrogen atoms to form covalent bonds. Therefore, the oxygen in the water molecule has two pairs of electrons, one shared with each hydrogen atom, to form two single covalent bonds. These two pairs of electrons are known as bonding pairs. Since the oxygen atom has six valence electrons, it has two lone pairs of electrons. These are the two pairs of electrons that are not involved in the covalent bonding with hydrogen atoms. Lone pairs of electrons are also known as non-bonding pairs or unshared pairs. Therefore, the answer is - there are two lone pairs of electrons on the central atom of the H2O molecule.