Where does the extra electron come from in the Lewis dot structure of OH-? [duplicate]








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[Where does the extra electron go in ionic compounds?](/questions/5841/where-does-the-extra-electron-go-in-ionic-compounds)

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Closed 7 years ago.



Hydrogen has one valence electron and oxygen has 6 valence electrons. However, the dot structure shows 3 lone pairs of oxygen and 1 shares with hydrogen.How is that possible?




I think OH- should not be seen independently nor does it exist independently. The extra electron should come from some other atom, which becomes cation. However, I'm not sure whether my understanding is correct.


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