Distance from Central Atom

[Annalyn Diaz 1J]

So I understand that in drawing VSEPR diagrams (or even just a 2D representation with Lewis structures) we use the wedges to represent distance from the central atom. For my question, I was confused on which type of wedge indicated a further distance: the completely shaded or the hatched wedges?

[Raymond Ko 1H]

If you imagine a methane molecule (CH4) molecule drawn on the white board with the shaded and hatched triangles showing the VSEPR shape, the shaded triangle shows a Hydrogen atom that is coming out from the white board toward you. The hatched triangle shows a Hydrogen atom protruding behind the white board away from you.

[Stephen Sirmay 1I]

The shaded triangle and the hatched triangle are opposites. Shaded illustrates a bond that is in front of the central atom, while hatched illustrates a bond behind the central atom.

[Irene Zhou 1E]

The shaded and hatched wedges are just there to help distinguish that the bonds are existing in three dimensions. A shaded wedge indicates that the bond is coming out of the plane while a hatched wedge indicates that the wedge is extending back into the plane.

[Celine Hoh 2L]

Then does a non-wedge bond indicate that the bond goes sideways?

[Nikki Bych 1I]

I always think of it as shaded represents an atom coming out of the page and dashed represents an atom going backwards, into the page.

[Hannah Yates 1K]

The completely dark wedge represents the atom coming towards you, and the dashed wedge represents the atom going away. I’m not quite sure why, but I also don’t think it matters that much as long as you know that they are on a diferent plane.

[Kelly Hollman]

The direct wedge is coming out of the page and the hatched wedge is going into the page!

[KHuang1L]

The completely shaded wedges represent atoms that are coming out of the page, while the hatched wedges represent atoms that are going into the page.