Question

CHEMISTRY 50 POINTS!

Which of the following explains the VSEPR geometry of a water molecule?



A) It is tetrahedral because there are four bonded pairs around oxygen.



B) It is bent because there are four bonded pairs around oxygen.



C) It is tetrahedral because there are two bonded pairs and two lone pairs around oxygen.



D) It is bent because there are two bonded pairs and two lone pairs around oxygen.

Answer 1

Answer: D

Step-by-step explanation:

Water is comprised of 2 Hydrogen atoms and 1 Oxygen atom. This gives us a total of 8 valence electrons to form bonds with.

Because Hydrogen is in first row of elements it can only hold a total of two electrons. This means each Hydrogen holds 2 electrons.

But that means there are four more electrons. VSEPR theory is basically how electron repulsion causes atoms to arrange in different ways.

There will be four electrons left on the oxygen because they can not go anywhere else. This will cause the hydrogen molecules to move away from the lone electrons and cause a bent geometry rather than a straight-line geometry.