Chapter 4 question 1 help please

[Natalie Yakobian]

bellow are ball and stick models of two molecules, in each case, indicate where there must be, may be, or cannot be one or more lone pairs of electrons on the central atom

The picture is of a trigonal planar molecule with 120 degrees between it and then a linear molecule with 180 degrees

But if there were lone pairs would the angle on the first one be less the 120 degrees and the second one as well?

Thanks so much!

[Chem_Mod]

I am super confused, can you post a picture that explains what you are talking about?

[Jake Ney lecture 1 discussion 1F]

For the first molecule there must be a pair of lone electrons bending the two non-central atoms to an angle less than 180 degrees. With AX2E VESPR models the angles are typically less than 120 degrees but it is more important to note the non-linear, bent shape. For the second molecule there may be lone pair electrons as it is possible for the structure to be an AX2 linear VESPR model or an AX2E3 linear model.