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VESPR

Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2016 12:49 pm
by Blake_Katsev_2E
Why would ClO2 + be trigonal pyramidal and not bent?

Re: VESPR

Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2016 2:05 pm
by Kaitlin_Reeves_1C
I don’t think ClO2 + would be trigonal pyramidal because it has 3 electron pairs about its central atom, 2 of which are bonded with oxygens and one is a lone pair. This would give it a bent shape. For a molecule to be trigonal pyramidal, I think it would have to have 4 pairs of electrons about the central atom: 3 pairs of which are bonded and one pair that is a lone pair. So I think ClO2 + is bent as well

Re: VESPR

Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2016 7:56 am
by Alexandra_Ivanova_1A
A trigonal pyramidal shape occurs when an atom has four areas of electron density-- a lone pair of electrons, and three bonds. In the case of ClO2+, it does have four regions of electron density, but it has two lone pairs and two bonds, so it follows a bent structure instead.