Seesaw

[Michael Du 1E]

According to the solution manual of E15, a seesaw would have an approximate angle of 90 and 120 degrees. Wouldn't the angles be less than 90 and 120 due to the lone pair causing a smaller angle than the typical angles of an electron arrangement of a trigonal bipyramidal?

[Verity Lai 2K]

I think your right, the lone pair-bonding pair electron repulsion is stronger than the bonding pair-bonding pair electron repulsion so the bond angles are slightly smaller than if it was all atoms.

[MaggieHan1L]

I don't know if the angle has a difference that is significant. 90 and 120 should be fine.

[Siya Shah 1J]

You're definitely right; the lone pair should cause enough repulsion to distort the angles at least slightly in comparison to the bond angles of a trigonal bipyramidal molecule. I assume that's where the "approximately" 90º and 120º comes in?

[ranqiao1e]

Yes it is less because lone pair would require some kind of experiment to determine its actual value

[Astrid Lunde 1I]

Yes, it would be less because the lone pairs push on the other bonds.

[Maddie]

Yes almost every time there is a lone pair on the model the angle will slightly diminish.

[Mallika Chimpiri 3K]

Yes, it should be less than 90 and 120.

[Jasmine Vallarta 2L]

yes

[Bradley Whitworth 4B]

Technically yes so I'd be precise on a test but it is a small difference so the manual might just be counting it as negligible.

[Rishika Yadav 3D]

My TA told me that if there are lone pairs, always write less than the respective number of degrees. Thus I think you are right, see saw should be less than 90 an 120 degrees.

[Matt F]

I have in my notes that they are equal to 90 and 120, but I think using the lone pair as reasoning you wouldn't be marked wrong for writing less than 90 and less than 120

[Celine 1F]

Yes it should be less than 9- or 120 because the lone pairs should create a repulsion.

[Mariah]

According to the solution manual of E15, a seesaw would have an approximate angle of 90 and 120 degrees. Wouldn't the angles be less than 90 and 120 due to the lone pair causing a smaller angle than the typical angles of an electron arrangement of a trigonal bipyramidal?

It is less than 120 or 90 because of the lone pair repulsion.

[zfinn]

The bond angles would be less because lone-bonding pars have more repulsion

[Lauren Lewis3L]

Yes, the see-saw is less then 90 and 120 degrees because there are lone pairs. Lone pairs create repulsion which brings the atoms together lowering their original angle.

[Reagan Smith 1H]

Yes it is "about" 90 and 120, so if you want to be more precise you can say "slightly less than 90" or "slightly less than 120".

[Sanjana Borle 2K]

Since there is a lone pair that replaces the atom in a trigonal bipyramidal, it "pushes" on the other atoms and causes their bond angles to decrease.

[J Medina 2I]

If a lone pair is present in a molecule, then it will affect the bond angles of the surrounding atoms since the repulsion force lone pairs is greater than bonded atoms.

[faithkim1L]

Because there is a lone pair, the angles should be slightly less than 90 and 120.

[Tahlia Mullins]

A lone pair should always change the angle at least slightly, so the actual angles would be less than 90 and 120.

[Megan Jung 3A]

Yes, due to the lone pair repulsion the angles would be slightly less than 90 and 120.

[Rosa Munoz 2E]

yes

[Juana Abana 1G]

Yes, it should be less than 90 or 120 because of the lone pair repulsion.