BRAINCAKEFive Pairs of Electrons
PCl5 has three chlorine molecules around a central phosphorus atom arranged in a plane 120° apart and two atoms above and below the plane with a bond angle of 90° This shape is known as trigonal bipyramidal.
The octet rule and expanded octet rule determines how many valence electrons there are. In the PCl5 molecule, the central phosphorus atom is bonded to five Cl atoms, thus having 10 bonding electrons and violating the octet rule (trigonal bipyramidal).
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Key terms in this lesson
- Atomic orbital
- A region in space around the nucleus where there is a 95% probability of finding an electron of a given energy.
- Period
- A horizontal row of the periodic table, containing elements with the same number of electron shells.
More in Bonding
- Electron Pair Repulsion Theory
- Two Pairs of Electrons
- Three Pairs of Electrons
- Four Pairs of Electrons
- Six Pairs of Electrons
- Bonding-Pair Lone-Pair Repulsion
- Heating a Solid, Liquid or Gas
- Crystals
All 30 lessons in Bonding · All AQA AS-level Chemistry topics