Final answer:
XeH₄, if it existed, would have a tetrahedral electron-pair geometry with four bonding regions and no lone pairs, making its molecular structure also tetrahedral.
Step-by-step explanation:
If the hypothetical xenon-hydrogen bond existed in a molecule of XeH₄, the structure of the molecule would be determined by the number of regions of electron density around the central xenon atom.
Xenon would have four hydrogen atoms bonded to it, with each hydrogen atom contributing one electron, and xenon providing two electrons for each bond since it is in Group 8 of the periodic table. There would be no lone pairs on the xenon atom as all eight of its valence electrons are used in bonding.
Therefore, the electron-pair geometry would be tetrahedral, with four regions of electron density arranged to minimize repulsion.The structure of XeH₄ would be tetrahedral (c). A tetrahedral structure is formed when there are four bonding pairs of electrons around a central atom with no lone pairs. In this case, xenon (Xe) would have four hydrogen (H) atoms bonded to it, forming a tetrahedral shape.
Following this geometry, the molecular structure of XeH₄ would also be tetrahedral, as this is the shape formed when four bonds are evenly spaced around a single central atom in three dimensions. There would be no lone pairs to affect the molecular shape, so the hydrogen atoms would be as far apart as possible, resulting in a tetrahedral molecular structure.