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A table with four rows and six columns is shown. The header column contains the phrases, “Number of regions,” “Spatial arrangement,” “Wedge/dash Notation,” and “Electron pair Geometry.” The first row reads: “Two regions of high electron density ( bonds and/or unshared pairs )”, “Three regions of high electron density ( bonds and/or unshared pairs ),” “Four regions of high electron density ( bonds and/or unshared pairs ),” “Five regions of high electron density ( bonds and/or unshared pairs ),” and “Six regions of high electron density ( bonds and/or unshared pairs ).” The second row shows diagrams of orbitals. The first image shows two oval-shaped orbs with an arrow indicating an angle of 180 degrees. The second image shows three oval-shaped orbs with an arrow indicating an angle of 120 degrees. The third image shows four oval-shaped orbs with an arrow indicating an angle of 109.5 degrees. The fourth image shows five oval-shaped orbs with an arrow indicating an angle of 90 and 120 degrees. The fifth image shows six oval-shaped orbs with an arrow indicating an angle of 90 degrees. The third row contains Lewis structures. The first structure shows a beryllium atom single bonded to two hydrogen atoms. The second structure shows a boron atom single bonded to three hydrogen atoms. The third structure shows a carbon atom single bonded to four hydrogen atoms. The fourth structure shows a phosphorus atom single bonded to five fluorine atoms. The fifth structure shows a sulfur atom single bonded to six fluorine atoms. The fourth row contains the phrases “Linear; 180 degree angle,” Trigonal Planar; all angles 120 degrees,” “Tetrahedral; all angles 109.5 degrees,” “Trigonal bipyramidal; angles of 90 degrees and 120 degrees. An attached atom may be equatorial, ( in the plane of the triangle ), or axial, ( above the plane of the triangle ),” and “Octahedral; 90 degrees or 180 degrees.”
The basic electron-pair geometries predicted by VSEPR theory maximize the space around any region of electron density (bonds or lone pairs).

Electron-pair geometry versus molecular structure

It is important to note that electron-pair geometry around a central atom is not the same thing as its molecular structure. The electron-pair geometries shown in [link] describe all regions where electrons are located, bonds as well as lone pairs. Molecular structure describes the location of the atoms , not the electrons.

We differentiate between these two situations by naming the geometry that includes all electron pairs the electron-pair geometry    . The structure that includes only the placement of the atoms in the molecule is called the molecular structure    . The electron-pair geometries will be the same as the molecular structures when there are no lone electron pairs around the central atom, but they will be different when there are lone pairs present on the central atom.

For example, the methane molecule, CH 4 , which is the major component of natural gas, has four bonding pairs of electrons around the central carbon atom; the electron-pair geometry is tetrahedral, as is the molecular structure ( [link] ). On the other hand, the ammonia molecule, NH 3 , also has four electron pairs associated with the nitrogen atom, and thus has a tetrahedral electron-pair geometry. One of these regions, however, is a lone pair, which is not included in the molecular structure, and this lone pair influences the shape of the molecule ( [link] ).

A Lewis structure shows a carbon atom single bonded to four hydrogen atoms. This structure uses wedges and dashes to give it a three dimensional appearance.
The molecular structure of the methane molecule, CH 4 , is shown with a tetrahedral arrangement of the hydrogen atoms. VSEPR structures like this one are often drawn using the wedge and dash notation, in which solid lines represent bonds in the plane of the page, solid wedges represent bonds coming up out of the plane, and dashed lines represent bonds going down into the plane.
Three images are shown and labeled, “a,” “b,” and “c.” Image a shows a nitrogen atom single bonded to three hydrogen atoms. There are four oval-shaped orbs that surround each hydrogen and one facing away from the rest of the molecule. These orbs are located in a tetrahedral arrangement. Image b shows a ball-and-stick model of the nitrogen single bonded to the three hydrogen atoms. Image c is the same as image a, but there are four curved, double headed arrows that circle the molecule and are labeled, “106.8 degrees.”
(a) The electron-pair geometry for the ammonia molecule is tetrahedral with one lone pair and three single bonds. (b) The trigonal pyramidal molecular structure is determined from the electron-pair geometry. (c) The actual bond angles deviate slightly from the idealized angles because the lone pair takes up a larger region of space than do the single bonds, causing the HNH angle to be slightly smaller than 109.5°.

As seen in [link] , small distortions from the ideal angles in [link] can result from differences in repulsion between various regions of electron density. VSEPR theory predicts these distortions by establishing an order of repulsions and an order of the amount of space occupied by different kinds of electron pairs. The order of electron-pair repulsions from greatest to least repulsion is:

lone pair-lone pair > lone pair-bonding pair > bonding pair-bonding pair

This order of repulsions determines the amount of space occupied by different regions of electrons. A lone pair of electrons occupies a larger region of space than the electrons in a triple bond; in turn, electrons in a triple bond occupy more space than those in a double bond, and so on. The order of sizes from largest to smallest is:

Questions & Answers

A golfer on a fairway is 70 m away from the green, which sits below the level of the fairway by 20 m. If the golfer hits the ball at an angle of 40° with an initial speed of 20 m/s, how close to the green does she come?
Aislinn Reply
cm
tijani
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A mouse of mass 200 g falls 100 m down a vertical mine shaft and lands at the bottom with a speed of 8.0 m/s. During its fall, how much work is done on the mouse by air resistance
Jude Reply
Can you compute that for me. Ty
Jude
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David Reply
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David
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emma Reply
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what is inorganic
emma
Chemistry is a branch of science that deals with the study of matter,it composition,it structure and the changes it undergoes
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Adjanou
chemistry could also be understood like the sexual attraction/repulsion of the male and female elements. the reaction varies depending on the energy differences of each given gender. + masculine -female.
Pedro
A ball is thrown straight up.it passes a 2.0m high window 7.50 m off the ground on it path up and takes 1.30 s to go past the window.what was the ball initial velocity
Krampah Reply
2. A sled plus passenger with total mass 50 kg is pulled 20 m across the snow (0.20) at constant velocity by a force directed 25° above the horizontal. Calculate (a) the work of the applied force, (b) the work of friction, and (c) the total work.
Sahid Reply
you have been hired as an espert witness in a court case involving an automobile accident. the accident involved car A of mass 1500kg which crashed into stationary car B of mass 1100kg. the driver of car A applied his brakes 15 m before he skidded and crashed into car B. after the collision, car A s
Samuel Reply
can someone explain to me, an ignorant high school student, why the trend of the graph doesn't follow the fact that the higher frequency a sound wave is, the more power it is, hence, making me think the phons output would follow this general trend?
Joseph Reply
Nevermind i just realied that the graph is the phons output for a person with normal hearing and not just the phons output of the sound waves power, I should read the entire thing next time
Joseph
Follow up question, does anyone know where I can find a graph that accuretly depicts the actual relative "power" output of sound over its frequency instead of just humans hearing
Joseph
"Generation of electrical energy from sound energy | IEEE Conference Publication | IEEE Xplore" ***ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7150687?reload=true
Ryan
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Maurice Reply
what are the types of wave
Maurice
answer
Magreth
progressive wave
Magreth
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Mujahid
A string is 3.00 m long with a mass of 5.00 g. The string is held taut with a tension of 500.00 N applied to the string. A pulse is sent down the string. How long does it take the pulse to travel the 3.00 m of the string?
yasuo Reply
Who can show me the full solution in this problem?
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Source:  OpenStax, Chemistry. OpenStax CNX. May 20, 2015 Download for free at http://legacy.cnx.org/content/col11760/1.9
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