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.
