Reference—Benzene ring representation convention

Benzene is represented in A Level structures by a hexagonal ring with alternating bonds or a circle, depending on the required convention. When benzene is part of a molecule, the ring is not normally redrawn as a fully displayed set of C–H bonds.

Attach substituents to the ring at the correct carbon and use the ring symbol consistently in condensed, skeletal and displayed representations.

Phenol can be shown as a benzene ring bonded to –OH; methylbenzene is the same ring bonded to –CH₃. The ring itself supplies the six-carbon aromatic framework.

The circle is not a seventh atom and the alternating-bond drawing is not three isolated double bonds behaving independently; both conventions represent the delocalised ring.