- APentagonal planar
- BSquare pyramidal
- CTrigonal bipyramidal
- DOctahedral
View written solutionFree
Correct answer: B
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Identify the elements from the clues
We are given a molecule of type , and all elements belong to the p-block.
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Element has the highest electronegativity among all known elements.
Therefore, .
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Element has the second highest electronegativity among all known elements.
Therefore, .
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Element is:
- rarest,
- monoatomic,
- non-radioactive from its group,
- and has the lowest ionization enthalpy among .
The p-block element fitting “rarest, monoatomic, non-radioactive from its group” is xenon, , from group 18.
Hence the molecule is: which is commonly written as .
-
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Determine the central atom electron count
Central atom:
Valence electrons on Xe = .
In :
- Xe forms 4 bonds with F
- Xe forms 1 bond with O (effectively a multiple bond in resonance description, but for VSEPR it counts as one electron domain)
Thus total bonded atoms around Xe = .
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Count electron domains using VSEPR
For , xenon has:
- bond pairs (4 Xe–F and 1 Xe–O domain)
- lone pair
So steric number =
Electron-pair geometry is therefore octahedral.
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Determine the molecular shape
With steric number and one lone pair, the molecular shape is obtained from octahedral geometry by removing one position for the lone pair.
This gives the shape:
In , the lone pair and the domain prefer opposite positions, leaving four F atoms in one square plane and O at the apex.
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Check options
- A: Pentagonal planar incorrect
- B: Square pyramidal correct
- C: Trigonal bipyramidal incorrect
- D: Octahedral electron-pair geometry, not molecular shape
Therefore, the correct option is:
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