{"id":217431,"date":"2025-05-22T02:11:30","date_gmt":"2025-05-22T02:11:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/learnexams.com\/blog\/?p=217431"},"modified":"2025-05-22T02:11:32","modified_gmt":"2025-05-22T02:11:32","slug":"use-the-vsepr-theory-to-predict-the-shape-of-each-of-the-following-molecules","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/2025\/05\/22\/use-the-vsepr-theory-to-predict-the-shape-of-each-of-the-following-molecules\/","title":{"rendered":"Use the VSEPR theory to predict the shape of each of the following molecules"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Use the VSEPR theory to predict the shape of each of the following molecules:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">a. methane (CH4)<br>b. hydrogen selenide (H2S)<br>c. ammonia (NH3)<br>d. silicon tetrachloride (SiCl4)<br>e. water (H2O)<br>f. formaldehyde (H2CO)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-ast-global-color-1-color\">The Correct Answer and Explanation is:<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Let&#8217;s apply <strong>Valence Shell Electron Pair Repulsion (VSEPR) Theory<\/strong> to determine the shapes of the given molecules. VSEPR theory predicts molecular geometry based on electron pairs repelling each other to be as far apart as possible around a central atom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>a. Methane (CH\u2084)<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Shape<\/strong>: <strong>Tetrahedral<\/strong><br><strong>Bond Angle<\/strong>: 109.5\u00b0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Central atom<\/strong>: Carbon (C)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Carbon has 4 valence electrons and forms 4 single bonds with hydrogen atoms.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>No lone pairs on the central atom.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Four bonding pairs arrange themselves tetrahedrally.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>b. Hydrogen Selenide (H\u2082Se)<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Shape<\/strong>: <strong>Bent (or Angular)<\/strong><br><strong>Bond Angle<\/strong>: ~104.5\u00b0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Central atom<\/strong>: Selenium (Se)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Se has 6 valence electrons; 2 form bonds with H, and 4 are in two lone pairs.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>AX2E2 molecular geometry.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Like water, the repulsion from lone pairs bends the shape.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>c. Ammonia (NH\u2083)<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Shape<\/strong>: <strong>Trigonal Pyramidal<\/strong><br><strong>Bond Angle<\/strong>: ~107\u00b0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Central atom<\/strong>: Nitrogen (N)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>N has 5 valence electrons; 3 bond with hydrogen, and 2 are a lone pair.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>AX3E molecular geometry.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Lone pair repels more strongly, compressing the bond angle below 109.5\u00b0.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>d. Silicon Tetrachloride (SiCl\u2084)<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Shape<\/strong>: <strong>Tetrahedral<\/strong><br><strong>Bond Angle<\/strong>: 109.5\u00b0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Central atom<\/strong>: Silicon (Si)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Si forms 4 single bonds with Cl atoms.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>No lone pairs on Si.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Four bonding pairs arrange tetrahedrally.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>e. Water (H\u2082O)<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Shape<\/strong>: <strong>Bent (or V-shaped)<\/strong><br><strong>Bond Angle<\/strong>: ~104.5\u00b0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Central atom<\/strong>: Oxygen (O)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>O has 6 valence electrons; 2 form O\u2013H bonds, and 4 are in two lone pairs.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>AX2E2 geometry.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Lone pairs repel more strongly than bonding pairs, forcing the H\u2013O\u2013H angle to contract from the ideal 109.5\u00b0 to about 104.5\u00b0.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>This bent geometry gives water its polar nature and many of its unique properties.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>f. Formaldehyde (H\u2082CO)<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Shape<\/strong>: <strong>Trigonal Planar<\/strong><br><strong>Bond Angle<\/strong>: 120\u00b0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Central atom<\/strong>: Carbon (C)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Carbon is double bonded to oxygen and single bonded to two hydrogens.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>No lone pairs on carbon.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>AX3 geometry (3 regions of electron density around carbon).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>All regions spread out in a plane to minimize repulsion.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Summary Table:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><thead><tr><th>Molecule<\/th><th>Shape<\/th><th>Bond Angle<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td>CH\u2084<\/td><td>Tetrahedral<\/td><td>109.5\u00b0<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>H\u2082Se<\/td><td>Bent<\/td><td>~104.5\u00b0<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>NH\u2083<\/td><td>Trigonal Pyramidal<\/td><td>~107\u00b0<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>SiCl\u2084<\/td><td>Tetrahedral<\/td><td>109.5\u00b0<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>H\u2082O<\/td><td>Bent<\/td><td>~104.5\u00b0<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>H\u2082CO<\/td><td>Trigonal Planar<\/td><td>120\u00b0<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">VSEPR theory helps predict the 3D geometry of molecules by focusing on electron domain repulsion, including bonding and non-bonding pairs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Use the VSEPR theory to predict the shape of each of the following molecules: a. methane (CH4)b. hydrogen selenide (H2S)c. ammonia (NH3)d. silicon tetrachloride (SiCl4)e. water (H2O)f. formaldehyde (H2CO) The Correct Answer and Explanation is: Let&#8217;s apply Valence Shell Electron Pair Repulsion (VSEPR) Theory to determine the shapes of the given molecules. VSEPR theory predicts [&hellip;]<\/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-217431","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-exams-certification"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217431","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=217431"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217431\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=217431"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=217431"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=217431"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}