Shape Names

[Reagan Hattenberger 2G]

Hello, yesterday in class when we were talking about shape and Professor mentioned linear, trigonal planar, and tetrahedral shapes. I feel like linear is pretty intuitive, but where do the rest of these names come from? Additionally, are there more we are supposed to know/where do we find them all?

[906170845]

The names come from the geometric shapes that the electron groups form around a central atom. For instance, linear (like a line) refers to 2 electron groups, trigonal planar (like an equilateral triangle in a plane) refers to 3 electron groups, and tetrahedral (like a 3D pyramid with a triangular base, or tetrahedron) refers to 4 electron groups.