2.

3 SHAPES OF MOLECULES
Describe and state the definition of electron pair repulsion. Predict the shapes of molecules and ions. State the bond angles of particular shapes.

Ionic and covalent bonding depends on electrostatic attraction to hold particles together however ionic is not directional. Ionic attraction in all directions (also repulsion) resulting in a lattice which maximises the attractive forces and minimises repulsion. Covalent bonds are directional, leading to molecules having a definite shape, in which the 3D relationship between the atoms is constant. The spatial governs the chemical and physical properties of the molecule or ion.

ELECTRON PAIR REPULSION

Outer shell electron pairs stay as far away from each other as possible, so that the repulsive forces between them are as small as possible.
( groups of electrons repel each other, groups of electrons will arrange themselves as far apart as possible in the space provided )

Maximum Separation Minimum Repulsion

ELECTRON PAIR REPULSION THEORY

Molecules contain covalent bonds. As covalent bonds consist of a pair of electrons, each bond will repel other bonds. Bonds are closer together so repulsive forces are greater Bonds are further apart so repulsive forces are less

Bonds will therefore push each other as far apart as possible to reduce the repulsive forces.
Because the repulsions are equal, the bonds will also be equally spaced

All bonds are equally spaced out as far apart as possible

ELECTRON PAIR REPULSION THEORY

All bonds are equally spaced out as far apart as possible to give minimum repulsive forces O

Because of the equal repulsive forces between bond pairs, most simple molecules, (ones with a central atom and others bonded to it), have standard shapes with equal bond angles. However, the presence of lone pairs on the central atom affects the angle between the bonds and thus affects the shape.

The shape of the molecule depends upon the number of groups of electrons. A group of electrons could be:
A bonding pair (single bond) Two bonding pairs ( double bond) Three bonding pairs (triple bond) A lone pair

REGULAR SHAPES
Molecules, or ions, possessing ONLY BOND PAIRS of electrons fit into a set of standard shapes. All the bond pair-bond pair repulsions are equal. All you do is count up the number of bond pairs

A covalent bond will repel another covalent bond

No. pairs of electrons 2 (bonding pairs)

Example

Diagram

Shape of molecule or ion

Bond angle

BeCl2 BCl3 CH4 NH3 H2O NH4+ PF5 SF6

3 (bonding pairs)

4 (bonding pairs)

4 (3 bonding & 1 lone pairs) 4 (2 bonding & 2 lone pairs) 4 (bonding pairs)

5 (bonding pairs)

6 (bonding pairs)

BERYLLIUM CHLORIDE

Be

Cl

Cl

Be

Cl

Beryllium - has two electrons to pair up Chlorine - needs 1 electron for octet

Two covalent bonds are formed Beryllium still has an incomplete shell

BERYLLIUM CHLORIDE
Be Cl Cl Be Cl

Beryllium - has two electrons to pair up Chlorine - needs 1 electron for octet

Two covalent bonds are formed Beryllium still has an incomplete shell

BOND PAIRS LONE PAIRS

2 0
180

Cl
BOND ANGLE... SHAPE...

Be

Cl

180 LINEAR

BORON CHLORIDE

Al

Cl

Cl B

Cl

Cl Boron - has three electrons to pair up Chlorine - needs 1 electron to complete octet Three covalent bonds are formed

ALUMINIUM CHLORIDE
Al Cl

Cl
B

Cl

Boron- has three electrons to pair up

Chlorine - needs 1 electron to complete octet Three covalent bonds are formed

Cl

Cl
BOND PAIRS LONE PAIRS 3 0
120

Cl

Al B Cl

BOND ANGLE... SHAPE...

120 TRIGONAL PLANAR

METHANE
H H H C H C

H
Carbon - has four electrons to pair up Hydrogen - 1 electron to complete shell Four covalent bonds are formed C and H now have complete shells

METHANE
H H H C H C

H
Carbon - has four electrons to pair up Hydrogen - 1 electron to complete shell Four covalent bonds are formed C and H now have complete shells

BOND PAIRS LONE PAIRS

4 0
109.5

C
BOND ANGLE... SHAPE...

109.5 TETRAHEDRAL

METHANE
H H H C H C

H
Carbon - has four electrons to pair up Hydrogen - 1 electron to complete shell Four covalent bonds are formed C and H now have complete shells

BOND PAIRS LONE PAIRS

4 0

BOND ANGLE... SHAPE...

109.5 TETRAHEDRAL

PHOSPHORUS(V) FLUORIDE
P F F
Phosphorus - has five electrons to pair up Fluorine - needs one electron to complete octet Five covalent bonds are formed; phosphorus can make use of d orbitals to expand its octet

F F P F F

PHOSPHORUS(V) FLUORIDE F F F
Phosphorus - has five electrons to pair up Fluorine - needs one electron to complete octet Five covalent bonds are formed; phosphorus can make use of d orbitals to expand its octet

P F F

BOND PAIRS LONE PAIRS

5 0

F
F
120

90

BOND ANGLE... SHAPE...

120 & 90 TRIGONAL BIPYRAMIDAL

P F

SULPHUR(VI) FLUORIDE
F

F F F

S
F F F

Sulphur - has six electrons to pair up Fluorine - needs one electron to complete octet Six covalent bonds are formed; sulphur can make use of d orbitals to expand its octet

SULPHUR(VI) FLUORIDE
F

F F F

S
Sulphur - has six electrons to pair up Fluorine - needs one electron to complete octet Six covalent bonds are formed; sulphur can make use of d orbitals to expand its octet F F F

BOND PAIRS

F
90

LONE PAIRS

0
F S

F F

BOND ANGLE... SHAPE...

90 OCTAHEDRAL

SULPHUR(VI) FLUORIDE
F

F F F

S
Sulphur - has six electrons to pair up Fluorine - needs one electron to complete octet Six covalent bonds are formed; sulphur can make use of d orbitals to expand its octet F F F

BOND PAIRS

LONE PAIRS

BOND ANGLE... SHAPE...

90 OCTAHEDRAL

REGULAR SHAPES

BOND PAIRS
2 3 4 5 6

SHAPE LINEAR TRIGONAL PLANAR TETRAHEDRAL

BOND ANGLE(S)
180 120 109.5 90 & 120 90

EXAMPLE BeCl2 AlCl3 CH4 PCl5 SF6

TRIGONAL BIPYRAMIDAL OCTAHEDRAL

IRREGULAR SHAPES
If a molecule/ion, has lone pairs on the central atom, the shape is slightly distorted away from the regular shape. This is because of the extra repulsion caused by the lone pairs.
BOND PAIR - BOND PAIR

<

LONE PAIR - BOND PAIR

<

LONE PAIR - LONE PAIR

As a result of the extra repulsion, bond angles tend to be slightly less as the bonds are squeezed together.

AMMONIA
H
BOND PAIRS 3 1 4

LONE PAIRS TOTAL PAIRS

Nitrogen has five electrons in its outer shell It cannot pair up all five - restricted to 8 electrons in its outer shell It pairs up only three of its five electrons 3 covalent bonds are formed and a pair of non-bonded electrons is left As the total number of electron pairs is 4, the shape is BASED on a tetrahedron

AMMONIA
H
BOND PAIRS 3 1 4

LONE PAIRS TOTAL PAIRS

The shape is based on a tetrahedron but not all the repulsions are the same LP-BP REPULSIONS > BP-BP REPULSIONS

The N-H bonds are pushed closer together

Lone pairs are not included in the shape
N H N H H H H H N H H 107 H

ANGLE... 107
SHAPE... PYRAMIDAL

AMMONIA
H
BOND PAIRS 3 1 4

LONE PAIRS TOTAL PAIRS

WATER
H
BOND PAIRS 2 2 4

LONE PAIRS TOTAL PAIRS

Oxygen has six electrons in its outer shell It cannot pair up all six - restricted to eight electrons in its outer shell

It pairs up only two of its six electrons

2 covalent bonds and 2 pairs of non-bonded electrons As the total number of electron pairs is 4, the shape is BASED on a tetrahedron

WATER
H
BOND PAIRS 2 2 4

LONE PAIRS TOTAL PAIRS

The shape is based on a tetrahedron but not all the repulsions are the same LP-LP REPULSIONS > LP-BP REPULSIONS > BP-BP REPULSIONS The O-H bonds are pushed even closer together Lone pairs are not included in the shape
H O 104.5

O H H H

ANGLE... 104.5 SHAPE... ANGULAR H

Bent linear

CALCULATING THE SHAPE OF IONS

The shape of an ion is calculated in the same way as molecules calculating the number of electrons in the outer shell of the central species * pairing up electrons, making sure the outer shell maximum is not exceeded calculating the number of bond pairs and lone pairs using ELECTRON PAIR REPULSION THEORY to calculate shape and bond angle(s)
* the number of electrons in the outer shell depends on the ions charge

* if the ion is positive you remove as many electrons as there are positive charges * if the ion is negative you add as many electrons as there are negative charges

SHAPES OF IONS
Draw outer shell electrons of central atom

SHAPES OF IONS

For every +ve charge on the ion, remove an electron from the outer shell... For every -ve charge add an electron to the outer shell... for NH4+ remove 1 electron

for NH2-

add 1 electron
NH4+ N+

NH2N

SHAPES OF IONS
NH4+
N+

NH2N

Then pair up electrons in the usual way

H

H
H

N+

H
H

SHAPES OF IONS
Work out shape and bond angle(s) from number of bond pairs and lone pairs.

H
N+ H
BOND PAIRS LONE PAIRS H-N-H 109.5 4 0

H H H N

BOND PAIRS LONE PAIRS

2 2

TETRADHEDRAL

ANGULAR / BENT LINEAR

H-N-H 104.5

MOLECULES WITH DOUBLE BONDS

A double bond repels other bonds as if it was single. Calculate the same as before

Carbon - needs four electrons to complete its shell Oxygen - needs two electron to complete its shell

The atoms share two electrons each to form two double bonds

MOLECULES WITH DOUBLE BONDS

C O O C O

Carbon - needs four electrons to complete its shell Oxygen - needs two electron to complete its shell

The atoms share two electrons each to form two double bonds

DOUBLE BOND PAIRS LONE PAIRS

2 0
180

Double bonds behave exactly as single bonds for repulsion purposes so the shape will be the same as a molecule with two single bonds and no lone pairs.

BOND ANGLE... 180 SHAPE... LINEAR

No. pairs of electrons 2 (bonding pairs)

Example

Diagram

Shape of molecule or ion

Bond angle

BeCl2 BCl3 CH4 NH3 H2O NH4+ PF5 SF6

3 (bonding pairs)

4 (bonding pairs)

4 (3 bonding & 1 lone pairs) 4 (2 bonding & 2 lone pairs) 4 (bonding pairs)

5 (bonding pairs)

6 (bonding pairs)