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There comes a time in every

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young element's life when they must make [Elements appear together]

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the biggest step of all: getting their

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Lewis dot license. The day an element

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finally gets it dot is always an [Hydrogen element with it's Mom and Dad]

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exciting one. After all, these dots will

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indicate to the world just how many

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valence electrons each element has in [Lewist dot diagram of an element]

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his valence shell, which can be a little

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embarrassing too, but the thrill of

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showing off one's dot more than makes up

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for the mild humiliation there. Today,

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lithium, nitrogen, and neon have made [Lithium, nitrogen and neon sitting outside a room]

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their way to the DLD--the Department of

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Lewis Dot--and are eagerly awaiting their

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big moment.

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Neon finally gets her number called, and [Neon walks through door]

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after taking a brief test and having an

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awful photo taken, she was awarded

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with eight bright shiny dots: two above, two to [Neon with 8 dots]

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the right two below, and two to the left. Now

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everyone Neon bumps into will know that she's [People bumping into Neon on the street]

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got two electrons in each of her four

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orbitals. Well, they'll also know that

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she's in group eight on the periodic

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table, since the number of valence

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electrons is always equal to an element's

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group number. Her chances of getting

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asked to homecoming this just went way up.[Boys asking Neon to homecoming]

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Nitrogen is next to go, and while he

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isn't giving as many dots as neon, he's

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still awfully pleased with his five [Nitrogen with 5 dots]

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brand-spanking-new dots. He's got one on

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each of three sides and two dots on the

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fourth side because of course an element

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has to get one dot on each side before

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any doubling can take place. So yeah,

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three of his orbitals are short an [Finger points to nitrogen's orbitals]

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electron, but well, his best years

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are still ahead of him. And he's planning to major in

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electron acquisition in college so... After [Elements sitting in a classroom]

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about six hours, once most of the

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excitement is drained from the room, Lithium

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finally has his number called. He is

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suddenly filled with renewed vigor and [Lithium bouncing up and down]

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anticipation until he's given a single

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lonely dot, which represents the lone

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electron in his valence shell. He's happy [Electron in lithium's valence shell]

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to have finally performed this rite of

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passage, but the next couple of years are

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probably going to be tough for him. [Elements chasing lithium in a field]

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Transition metals can be so cruel

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