{"id":183447,"date":"2025-01-16T13:05:56","date_gmt":"2025-01-16T13:05:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/learnexams.com\/blog\/?p=183447"},"modified":"2025-01-16T13:05:58","modified_gmt":"2025-01-16T13:05:58","slug":"which-statement-correctly-describes-the-sulfur-tetrafluoride-sf4-molecule","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/2025\/01\/16\/which-statement-correctly-describes-the-sulfur-tetrafluoride-sf4-molecule\/","title":{"rendered":"Which statement correctly describes the sulfur tetrafluoride (SF4) molecule"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Which statement correctly describes the sulfur tetrafluoride (SF4) molecule? Polar with a seesaw molecular geometry Nonpolar with a seesaw geometry Polar with a tetrahedral molecular geometry Nonpolar with a tetrahedral molecular geometry<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Correct Answer and Explanation is :<\/strong><\/mark><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The correct answer is:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Polar with a seesaw molecular geometry<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Explanation:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  1. Molecular Geometry<\/strong>:
    The geometry of ( \\text{SF}_4 ) is seesaw<\/strong>. This is determined by the VSEPR (Valence Shell Electron Pair Repulsion) theory:<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
      \n
    • Sulfur (S) has 6 valence electrons.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Fluorine (F) contributes 1 electron each (4 fluorine atoms add 4 electrons total).<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • This results in 10 electrons or 5 electron pairs around sulfur.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • These electron pairs form a trigonal bipyramidal electron geometry<\/strong>. However, one of the five positions is occupied by a lone pair, which leads to a seesaw molecular geometry<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
        \n
      1. Polarity<\/strong>:
        ( \\text{SF}_4 ) is a polar molecule<\/strong> due to the following:<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
          \n
        • The lone pair on sulfur is not symmetric, causing the molecule to have an uneven charge distribution.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • Fluorine atoms are highly electronegative, pulling electron density toward themselves.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • This asymmetry creates a net dipole moment, making the molecule polar.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
            \n
          1. Nonpolar vs. Polar Comparison<\/strong>:<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
              \n
            • A nonpolar molecule would require either symmetry in geometry (e.g., tetrahedral) or equal dipole moments canceling out.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
            • ( \\text{SF}_4 ), due to its seesaw shape and the lone pair of electrons, lacks symmetry. This prevents the dipole moments from canceling out, making it polar.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
                \n
              1. Why Not Tetrahedral?<\/strong>
                Tetrahedral geometry occurs when there are four bonding pairs and no lone pairs around the central atom. ( \\text{SF}_4 ) has one lone pair and four bonding pairs, so it is not tetrahedral.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

                In summary, ( \\text{SF}_4 ) has a seesaw molecular geometry due to its lone pair of electrons, and it is polar due to its asymmetric shape and the electronegativity of fluorine atoms.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                Which statement correctly describes the sulfur tetrafluoride (SF4) molecule? Polar with a seesaw molecular geometry Nonpolar with a seesaw geometry Polar with a tetrahedral molecular geometry Nonpolar with a tetrahedral molecular geometry The Correct Answer and Explanation is : The correct answer is: Polar with a seesaw molecular geometry Explanation: In summary, ( \\text{SF}_4 ) […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-183447","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-exams-certification"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183447","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=183447"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183447\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=183447"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=183447"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=183447"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}