Octahedral

[Marsenne Cabral 1A]

What is the VSEPR notation for a molecule with an octahedral shape?

[Hai-Lin Yeh 1J]

For 6 electron pairs:

Octahedral: AX6
Square pyramidal: AX5E
Square planar: AX4E2

[Jovian Cheung 1K]

For 6 electron pairs:

Octahedral: AX6
Square pyramidal: AX5E
Square planar: AX4E2

Just to clarify a bit more for the OP, these 3 molecular shapes (octahedral, square pyramidal, square planar) all have the electron domain arrangement/configuration 'octahedral'.

But only AX6 has both octahedral electron domain arrangement AND shape!

Hopefully this helps :-)

[Danny Elias Dis 1E]

Do the bond angles of the octahedral shape (90 degrees) ever change (because of things like electron pairs)?

[Jeannine 1I]

Do the bond angles of the octahedral shape (90 degrees) ever change (because of things like electron pairs)?

I believe if there is only one electron pair (AX5E), it will slightly push the other 4 bonded atoms further away from it, so that the angle between the central atom, the opposite atom from the electron pair, and any one of the four remaining bonded atoms will be slightly less than 90 degrees.

If there are two electron pairs, (AX4E2), the electron pairs will be located opposite of each other, so although they both are pushing the 4 atoms around them away, the atoms have no more space to move away, so all bond angles remain 90 degrees.