VSEPR

Valence Shell Electron Pair Repulsion (VSEPR)

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SN*	Lone pairs	Molecular Geometry	Example	Bond angle
2	0	Linear	HCN	180°
	0	Linear	CO₂	180°
	0	Linear	HCCH	180°
	0	Linear	BeH₂	180°
	0	Linear	N₃^–	180°
	1	Linear	HCN
	1	Linear	N₂
3	0	Trigonal planar	CO₃^-2	120°
	0	Trigonal planar	NO₃^–	120°
	0	Trigonal planar	BH₃	120°
	0	Trigonal planar	H₂CO	116.1 HCH 121.9 HCO
	0	Trigonal planar	H₂CO₃	109 OCO 126 O=CO
	0	Trigonal planar	CCl₂CCl₂	115.7 ClCCl 122.2 ClCC
	0	Trigonal planar	SO₃	120°
	1	Angular or bent	SO₂	119.5°
	1	Angular or bent	O₃	116.8°
	1	Angular or bent	NO₂^–	115°
	1	Angular or bent	CH₂NCH₃	117°
	1	Angular or bent	CH₃NCO	114°
	2	Linear	O₂
	2	Linear	CO₂
4	0	Tetrahedral	CH₄	109.5°
	0	Tetrahedral	NH₄⁺	109.5°
	0	Tetrahedral	BF₄^–	109.5°
	0	Tetrahedral	CH₃CH₃	108 HCH 110.9 HCC
	0	Tetrahedral	CH₃NH₂	108.4 HCH 110 HCN
	0	Tetrahedral	CH₃OH	109.0 HCH 109.9 HCO
	0	Tetrahedral	BH₃NH₃	113.5 HBH 105.0 HBN
	0	Tetrahedral	BH₃NH₃	107.9 HNH 111.0 HNB
	0	Tetrahedral	POCl₃	104.5 ClPCl 118.8 OPCl
	0	Tetrahedral	NSF₃	94 FSF 123 NSF
	0	Tetrahedral	PO₄^-3	109.5°
	0	Tetrahedral	SO₄^-2	109.5°
	0	Tetrahedral	ClO₄^-	109.5°
	0	Tetrahedral	XeO₄	109.5°
	1	Trigonal pyramid	NH₃	107.8°
	1	Trigonal pyramid	PCl₃	100°
	1	Trigonal pyramid	XeO₃	108.1°
	1	Trigonal pyramid	CH₃NH₂	105.8 HNH 111 HNC
	1	Trigonal pyramid	NH₂OH	107 HNH 103 HNO
	1	Trigonal pyramid	NH₂NH₂	107 HNH 109 HNN
	1	Trigonal pyramid	SOCl₂	96 ClSCl 106 OSCl
	2	Angular or bent	H₂O	104.5°
	2	Angular or bent	OF₂	103°
	2	Angular or bent	HOCl	103°
	2	Angular or bent	CH₃OH	108.9°
	2	Angular or bent	NH₂OH	103°
	3	Linear	HCl
	3	Linear	Cl₂
5	0	Trigonal bipyramid	PCl₅	120, 180°
	0	Trigonal bipyramid	AsF₅	120, 180°
	0	Trigonal bipyramid	SOF₄	98, 124 OSF
	1	Seesaw	SF₄	102, 173°
	1	Seesaw	XeO₂F₂	105.6 OXeO 174.8 FXeF
	1	Seesaw	IO₂F₂^–	102 OXeO 179 FXeF
	2	T shaped	BrF₃	86, 172°
	2	T shaped	XeF₃⁺	89, 162°
	2	T shaped	XeOF₂	92, 174°
	3	Linear	I₃^–	180°
	3	Linear	XeF₂	180°
6	0	Octahedral	SF₆	90, 180°
	0	Octahedral	PF₆^–	90, 180°
	0	Octahedral	XeO₆^-4	90, 180°
	1	Square pyramid	BrF₅	85, 170°
	1	Square pyramid	XeOF₄	92, 176°
	1	Square pyramid	XeF₅⁺	80, 160°
	2	Square planar	XeF₄	90, 180°
	2	Square planar	ICl₄^–	90, 180°
7	0	Pentagonal bipyramid	IF₇	72, 90°
	1	Pentagonal pyramid	IOF₅^-2	72, 92°
	2	Pentagonal planar	XeF₅^–	72°
*Steric number (SN) is atoms plus lone pairs. If A is the central atom, X represents attached atoms, and E represents lone electron pairs, then AX_mE_n predicts the 3D shape by minimizing electron pair repulsion, where the sum of m+n equals the steric number.

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Lone Pairs Multiple bonds
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Bond angles from National Institute of Standards and Technology.
This page created by George Lisensky, Beloit College.
Last modified February 23, 2026.

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