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The geometry of ammonia molecule is

ATrigonal pyramidal

BTrigonal planar

CTetrahedral

DLinear

Answer:

A. Trigonal pyramidal

Read Explanation:

  • The ammonia molecule, with the chemical formula NH3, exhibits a trigonal pyramidal geometry.

  • This shape arises due to the arrangement of atoms and the presence of a lone pair of electrons on the central nitrogen atom.

Valence Shell Electron Pair Repulsion (VSEPR) Theory

  • According to VSEPR theory, electron pairs (both bonding and lone pairs) around the central atom repel each other and arrange themselves to minimize this repulsion.

  • In ammonia, the central nitrogen atom is bonded to three hydrogen atoms and possesses one lone pair of electrons.

  • This gives a total of four electron domains (three bonding pairs and one lone pair) around the nitrogen atom.

  • These four electron domains arrange themselves in a tetrahedral electron geometry to maximize the distance between them.

Effect of Lone Pair on Molecular Geometry

  • While the electron domains adopt a tetrahedral arrangement, the molecular geometry is determined only by the positions of the atoms.

  • The lone pair occupies space and exerts a stronger repulsive force than bonding pairs, pushing the N-H bonds closer together.

  • This distortion from a perfect tetrahedron results in the characteristic trigonal pyramidal shape of the ammonia molecule.

  • The three hydrogen atoms form the base of the pyramid, and the nitrogen atom is at the apex.

Bond Angles

  • In an ideal tetrahedral geometry, the bond angles would be approximately 109.5 degrees.

  • However, due to the greater repulsion from the lone pair, the H-N-H bond angles in ammonia are slightly compressed to about 107 degrees.

Hybridization

  • The central nitrogen atom in ammonia is sp3 hybridized.

  • This hybridization involves the mixing of one 2s orbital and three 2p orbitals to form four equivalent sp3 hybrid orbitals.

  • Three of these sp3 hybrid orbitals overlap with the 1s orbitals of the hydrogen atoms to form sigma bonds.

  • The fourth sp3 hybrid orbital contains the lone pair of electrons.


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