Final answer:
A molecule with a trigonal bipyramidal shape has five pairs of bonding electrons. All five electron groups around the central atom in this structure are bonding pairs, with no lone pairs present.
Step-by-step explanation:
A molecule that displays a trigonal bipyramidal molecular shape has five pairs of bonding electrons. In the trigonal bipyramidal structure, there are five positions around the central atom that are occupied by electron groups. These positions are at the corners of a polyhedron with one triangular plane (known as the equatorial plane) and two positions above and below this plane (known as the axial positions).
The bonding electrons refer to the pairs of electrons that are shared with other atoms to form covalent bonds. In a trigonal bipyramidal molecular geometry, all five positions contain bonding electrons since there are no lone pairs in this shape. Therefore, option C. 5 is the correct answer to how many pairs of bonding electrons are present in a molecule with a trigonal bipyramidal shape.