Lone pairs

[Shreya Tamatam 3B]

How and why do lone pairs influence molecular shape?

[Nicolette_Canlian_2L]

Lone pairs cause repulsion between the the atoms bonded to the central atom. They create a smaller bond angle between the atoms because the atoms will be pushed down.

[Esther Ahn 4I]

For repulsion strength, lone-lone pair has the highest repulsion strength, then it is lone-bonding pair and the weakest is bonding-bonding pair. Therefore, the lone pair electron forces the bonding electron closer together. This causes the angle to be slightly smaller than expected.

[Yvonne Du]

Lone pairs create strong repulsions since the charges are the same(negative). Therefore, they try to get away from each other and cause the bond angle to decrease. Also, the bonded atoms would most likely end up being close together since the lone pairs are getting away from each other.

[uhedlund]

Because repulsions between lone pairs and atoms are significantly stronger than those just between atoms, the repulsion from the lone pairs pushes the atoms closer together, creating smaller bond angles in the molecule.