Bond Angle

[Tracey Tran 3I]

Why is the bond angle of a trigonal pyramidal a little less than 109.5 degrees instead of being exactly 109.5 degrees?

[Shannon Asay 1C]

It's because the lone pair of electrons over the central atom pushes the other electrons away from it, making the bond angles slightly smaller.

[Matthew ILG 1L]

When labeling the bonds in a trigonal pyramidal model are we allowed to say that it is 109.5 degrees or do we have to specify that it is slightly less than that?

[Maia_Jackson_2C]

You should probably say that it is less than 109.5 degrees because that is technically more correct.

[Brandon Valafar]

If there are lone pairs of electrons, those make the angle a little bit less than what it actually would be, due to repulsion.

[Emma Joy Schaetz 1E]

Are we going to have to know all of the bond angles for the different shapes?

[DMuth_1J]

The bond angle allows the most space between electrons as is possible. And yes, I believe we have to memorize them.

[Emma Joy Schaetz 1E]

The bond angle allows the most space between electrons as is possible. And yes, I believe we have to memorize them.

Do you know which shapes we will have to know?

[DMuth_1J]

So far he has only gone over six, so I would imagine those for sure (especially considering they are considered the basic ones without lone pairs). As he teaches more I believe we will be responsible for all the ones he shows us.

[Emma Joy Schaetz 1E]

So far he has only gone over six, so I would imagine those for sure (especially considering they are considered the basic ones without lone pairs). As he teaches more I believe we will be responsible for all the ones he shows us.

Okay thank you! Do you know how many there will be in total?