Inorganic and Applied Chemistry

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Inorganic and Applied Chemistry

When we are to determine how many electron groups that surround an atom, the Lewis structure can be of

great help (see the previous section 2.2.3 Lewis structure). From the Lewis structure of a given molecule you

can simply count how many bonds and lone pairs that surround an atom. That way you have the number of

electron groups. The VSEPR theory tells us that these electron groups will be placed as far apart as possible.

In the following example we will use the VSEPR theory to predict the molecular geometries of a water

molecule and a carbon dioxide molecule. That way we will discover why a carbon dioxide molecule is linear

and why a water molecule is V-shaped.

Chemical compounds

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