Question

Explain why BF3 does not follow the octet rule.
B is surrounded by only _______________electrons, so the Lewis structure for BF3 does not follow the octet rule.

3, 4 5 or 6

Answer 1

B is surrounded by only 6 electrons, so the Lewis structure for BF3 does not follow the octet rule. According to the octet rule, atoms strive to have 8 electrons in their outermost shell to achieve stability. In the case of BF3, Boron only has 6 electrons in its outer shell, which means it does not have a full octet. This makes BF3 an exception to the octet rule.