Molecular geometry

Chemistry Level 2

Molecular geometry is the three-dimensional arrangement of the atoms that constitute a molecule. It determines several properties of a substance including its reactivity, polarity, phase of matter, color, magnetism, and biological activity. The above are the molecular geometries of the hydrogen compounds of three arbitrary elements X, Y and Z with period 2, respectively. Compare the bond angles of the three molecules.

A < B = C A < B = C A > B = C A > B = C A > B > C A > B > C A < B < C A < B < C

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1 solution

Daniel Ng
Nov 26, 2014

When there are lone pairs of electrons (the two dots in [B] and [C]) in a model, the bond angles decrease. This also applies to when there are more lone pairs - more of them equals smaller bond angles. Therefore, [C]'s bond angles are the smallest, followed by [B], then [A]. This leads to A > B > C {A > B > C}

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