Ammonia

[Foil]

<p>From Sparknotes test 2:</p>

<p>“The electronic geometry of the ammonia molecule is tetrahedral.”</p>

<p>I put false but according to Sparknotes, the answer is true. Isn’t ammonia trigonal pyramidal? Their explanation:</p>

<p>

@Sparknotes

The electronic geometry of a molecule refers to the number of areas of electrons around its central atom. Nitrogen does have four areas of electrons in the ammonia molecule; therefore it is tetrahedral with respect to electrons.

</p>

[gmac525]

<p>its a trigonal pyramidal…</p>

[GoldShadow]

<p>It’s asking for the arrangement of the electrons NOT the arrangement of the atoms.</p>

<p>Yes, the hydrogens are arranged in a trigonal pyramidal arrangement, but the nitrogen still has an unshared lone pair. In other words, it’s electron geometry is tetrahedral. Try drawing the Lewis dot structure.</p>

[714nD1]

<p>I hope this is not a Bio question…</p>

[gmac525]

<p>WOW that question is messed up</p>

[GoldShadow]

<p>It’s not a messed up question, just that you misread it. It’s not a question that should cause any confusion.
Unless you mean 714’s comment… don’t worry, it’s a chem question not a bio one heh.</p>

[renak]

<p>electronic=electron config… just look at the electrons, not the actual bonds. the question is right</p>

[chriscap]

<p>its definitely tetrahedral. </p>

<p>remember, according to the VSEPR theory, non-bonding electron pairs act the same as bonding electron pairs when considering the bonding of the molecule.</p>

<p>4 bonding pairs –> tetrahedral.</p>

[cooljoe]

<p>Agreed–it’s tetrahedral. It asks for the ELECTRONS. </p>

<p>Funny, I once got this question on a test, and chose tetrahedral by mistake (or rather, my lack of knowledge).</p>