Question

Referring to your properly drawn Lewis Dot structure and molecular geometry chart, determine the

shape of the following molecule:
PF₅

Answer 1

The molecular shape of PF₅, determined using the VSEPR model after drawing its Lewis Dot structure, is trigonal bipyramidal, as it has five bonding pairs and no lone pairs around the central phosphorus atom.

Step-by-step explanation:

To determine the molecular shape of phosphorus pentafluoride (PF₅), we must first draw the Lewis Dot structure. The central phosphorus atom (P) has five valence electrons and each fluorine atom (F) has seven valence electrons.

After drawing the Lewis structure, we apply the Valence Shell Electron Pair Repulsion (VSEPR) model. Since all electron groups around the central P atom are bonding pairs, PF₅ is designated as AX5, meaning it has five areas of electron density with no lone pairs. This results in a molecular geometry that is trigonal bipyramidal. In this structure, three fluorine atoms occupy equatorial positions forming a triangle in a horizontal plane and the remaining two occupy axial positions above and below the plane.