Valence Shell Electron Pair Repulsion (VSEPR) SN*  Lone pairs  Molecular Geometry Bond angle Example 2 0 Linear 180° HCN   0 Linear   CO2 3 0 Trigonal planar 120° H2CO   0 Trigonal planar   CH2CH2   1 Angular or bent   O3 4 0 Tetrahedral 109.5° CH4   0 Tetrahedral   CH3CH3   0 Tetrahedral   CH3NH2   0 Tetrahedral   CH3OH   1 Trigonal pyramidal   NH3   1 Trigonal pyramidal   CH3NH2   2 Angular or bent   H2O   2 Angular or bent   CH3OH 5 0 Trigonal bipyramidal 90, 120° PCl5   1 Seesaw   SF4   2 T shaped   BrF3   3 Linear   I3-   3 Linear   XeF2 6 0 Octahedral 90° SF6   1 Square pyramidal   BrF5   2 Square planar   XeF4 *Steric number (SN) is atoms plus lone pairs This page created by George Lisensky, Beloit College. Last modified August 14, 2012. Back

Drag to rotate, shift-drag vertical to zoom, shift-drag horizontal to turn Atoms: Spacefill Ball&Stick Ball Stick Off Labels: Small Medium Large Off Lone Pairs (but not shown for linear molecules) Double bonds Spin