Question

Give the electron geometry (EG), molecular geometry (MG), and hybridization for NH₃.

a) NH₃ Molecular Properties
b) Electron Geometry Details
c) Molecular Hybridization Analysis
d) NH₃ Geometry Assignment

Answer 1

The electron geometry of NH3 is tetrahedral, while the molecular geometry is trigonal pyramidal, with sp3 hybridization. The bond angles in NH3 are slightly less than 109.5°.

Step-by-step explanation:

For the molecule NH3 (ammonia), the electron geometry (EG) is tetrahedral. This is because there are four regions of electron density surrounding the nitrogen atom: three from hydrogen atoms and one from the lone pair of electrons on nitrogen. However, the molecular geometry (MG) is trigonal pyramidal, because the shape is determined by the positions of the atoms alone, discounting the lone pair.

The hybridization of the nitrogen atom in NH3 is sp3, since it has four areas of electron density which require it to hybridize its s orbital and three p orbitals to form four equivalent sp3 hybrid orbitals.

The molecule has bond angles slightly less than 109.5°, due to the repulsion of the electrons in the lone pair, which require slightly more space than bonded pairs, resulting in a compression of the H-N-H angles.