Angle Distorted

[Nadeen 3D]

I was wondering what 'angle distorted' means when it comes to the molecular geometry?

[Julia Lee]

Im guessing it has to do with the distortion of bond angles in a molecule due to lone pair repulsion.

[Erin Nash - 4G]

Since lone pair - lone pair electron repulsion is stronger than electrons in a bond, the angles are slightly smaller than what is experimentally observed such as for tetrahedral, the bond angles are 109.5, but if there is a lone pair, the bond angle is slightly less than 109.5.

[Vicky Lu 1L]

Angle distortion means that the angles in the bond has been changed from the typical bond angle arrangement. This is most likely the result of lone pair repulsion which allows electrons in the lone pair to push the other regions of electron density in the molecule away, making the bond angles now distorted. Without a lone pair, bond angles are not affected and will be in their stationed position; however, with a lone pair, it will cause the others regions of electron density to be pushed away from the lone pair and therefore those regions will be closer to each other in comparison to their position if the lone pair is not there.

[Aiden Atoori 1C]

Lone pairs cause distortion in bond angles.