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A lone pair of electrons takes up space despite being very small. Lone pairs have a greater repulsive effect than bonding pairs. This is because there are already other forces needing to be taken into consideration with bond pairs.
So to summarize: Lone pair-lone pair repulsion > lone pair-bond pair repulsion > bond pair-bond pair repulsion. This makes the molecular geometry different.
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How does a lone pair distort the molecualr shape?
The lone pair creates repulsion between the molecules attached to it and distorts the shape.
What effect does a lone electron pair have on molecular shape?
The lone pair pushes bonding electron pairs away.
What is the molecular geometry for H3O?
The molecular geometry of H3O+ is Trigonal Pyramidal because it has 3 bonding pairs and 1 nonbonding pair (lone pair)
How you get bond angle of a tetrahedral shape molecule which have 1 lone pair?
Tetrahedral bond angle of a molecule which have a lone pair electron is 107, smaller than regular 109.5, due to the repulsion of electrons of lone pair.
What is the molecular geometry of BrCl3?
Trigonal pyramidal (the EG is tetrahedral but one side is a lone pair)
