Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
By removing the assumption that all hybrid orbitals are equivalent, Bent's rule leads to improved predictions of molecular geometry and bond strengths. [4] [5] Bent's rule can be justified through the relative energy levels of s and p orbitals. Bent's rule represents a modification of VSEPR theory for molecules of lower than ideal symmetry. [6]
Therefore, the VSEPR-predicted molecular geometry of a molecule is the one that has as little of this repulsion as possible. Gillespie has emphasized that the electron-electron repulsion due to the Pauli exclusion principle is more important in determining molecular geometry than the electrostatic repulsion. [4]
Water (H 2 O) is an example of a bent molecule, as well as its analogues. The bond angle between the two hydrogen atoms is approximately 104.45°. [ 1 ] Nonlinear geometry is commonly observed for other triatomic molecules and ions containing only main group elements, prominent examples being nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ), sulfur dichloride (SCl 2 ...
The structure has a bent molecular geometry for the two hydrogens from the oxygen vertex. The oxygen atom also has two lone pairs of electrons. One effect usually ascribed to the lone pairs is that the H–O–H gas-phase bend angle is 104.48°, [ 58 ] which is smaller than the typical tetrahedral angle of 109.47°.
This is because according to Bent's rule, the C–F bond gains p-orbital character leading to high s-character in the C–H bonds, and H–C–H bond angles approaching those of sp 2 orbitals – e.g. 120° – leaving less for the F–C–H bond angle. The difference is again explained in terms of bent bonds. [3]
For example, in carbon dioxide (CO 2), which does not have a lone pair, the oxygen atoms are on opposite sides of the carbon atom (linear molecular geometry), whereas in water (H 2 O) which has two lone pairs, the angle between the hydrogen atoms is 104.5° (bent molecular geometry).
As predicted by VSEPR theory, the molecule adopts a bent molecular geometry. [citation needed] It is a strong oxidizer and has attracted attention in rocketry for this reason. [5] With a boiling point of −144.75 °C, OF 2 is the most volatile (isolable) triatomic compound. [6] The compound is one of many known oxygen fluorides.
Molecular geometry is the three-dimensional arrangement of the atoms that constitute a molecule. It includes the general shape of the molecule as well as bond lengths , bond angles , torsional angles and any other geometrical parameters that determine the position of each atom.