Lone pairs

[Cytlalli 1B]

Why are lone pairs more likely to found in certain locations around a central atom and how/why do they affect the bond angles in a molecule, cation, or anion?

[Brynne Keyser 1B]

Any lone pair present on the central atom will try and repel any of the bonded electrons. This causes the bond angles to lessen slightly and you'll have bond angles that are slightly less than they would be without the presence of the lone pair.

Hope this helps!

[Jimmy lira-1G]

To see more details about lone pairs and how they affect bond angles check out this file!





-Jimmy Lira 1G

[Komal Prakash 1H]

Also, lone pairs of one atom can repel lone pairs of neighboring atoms as well as bonding electrons. However, the repulsion strength is larger when lone pairs repel other lone pairs than when a lone pair repels a bonding electron (however, lone to bonding is the most common as causes a slight change in the angle of the molecule in some cases). The weakest repulsion interaction is a bonding to bonding pair. Also, lone pair to bonding repulsion may not have an effect on the angle if their is a counteracting lone pair that causes a repulsion in the opposite direction.

[Haison Nguyen 1I]

I'm not sure about the first part of your question, but lone pairs will repel other lone pairs and bonded electrons so the angle would decrease compared to if there were no lone pairs affecting the bonding angles.

[breannasung_1K]

Lone pairs are still considered a region of electron density. Lone pairs actually occupy more space than bonds, therefore affecting the bond angles of other atoms in the molecule.