Counting Rules
Two styles of electron counting are popular and both give the same result. The neutral counting approach assumes the molecule or fragment being studied consists of purely covalent bonds. It was popularized by M.L.H. Green along with the L and X ligand notation. It is usually considered easier especially for low-valent transition metals.
The "ionic counting" approach assumes purely ionic bonds between atoms. It rewards the user with a knowledge of oxidation states, which can be valuable. One can check one's calculation by employing both approaches, though it is important to be aware that most chemical species exist between the purely covalent and ionic extremes.
Read more about this topic: Electron Counting
Famous quotes containing the words counting and/or rules:
“What we commonly call man, the eating, drinking, planting, counting man, does not, as we know him, represent himself, but misrepresents himself. Him we do not respect, but the soul, whose organ he is, would he let it appear through his action, would make our knees bend.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Neither Aristotelian nor Russellian rules give the exact logic of any expression of ordinary language; for ordinary language has no exact logic.”
—Sir Peter Frederick Strawson (b. 1919)