The presence of which of the following will cause a molecule to have a different electron geometry compared to its molecule geometry?

Protons

Lone pairs

Bonds

Double bonds

1 answer

The presence of lone pairs will cause a molecule to have a different electron geometry compared to its molecular geometry.

In molecular geometry, we consider the arrangement of atoms, while in electron geometry, we also include lone pairs of electrons. Lone pairs alter the angles between bonded atoms and can change the overall shape of the molecule compared to what would be expected from just the bonded atoms.

For example, in a water molecule (H₂O), the electron geometry is tetrahedral due to the two lone pairs and two bonded hydrogens. However, the molecular geometry is bent because we only consider the bonded atoms.

In contrast, protons, bonds, and double bonds do not lead to a difference between electron and molecular geometry in the same way that lone pairs do.