CHEMISTRY COMMUNITY

for the names of the different shapes, is the only way to learn them is to memorize the names of the shapes that correspond to the AXE form?

I think it would be better to understand how the shapes correspond to different AXE forms rather than simply memorize them. Some are nice, like trigonal planar. You know that if you have 3 regions of electron density around the central atom, then they all need to be equally spaced from each other (360/3 = 120). Some, like tetrahedral, may better be memorized.

I find knowing how the actual shape looks like to be really helpful as it gives a clue onto the shape's name. For example a trigonal planar (AX3) looks like a triangle on a single plane, while a square pyramid (AX5E) looks like a pyramid with a square base if you connect the atoms (not the lone pairs) to create a 3D shape.

Yeah. Could help to make a table w the following columns (this is what I’m doing): # lone pairs | # bonding pairs | AXE formula | name | hybridization | drawing / description. Hope that helps.

Do the bond angles need to be memorized as well, or is there a formula that can determine what the angles are?

I think you have to memorize those as well. Or you can look at the shape and determine it from there, but you would have to draw the shape correctly if you are looking doing it that way