Molecular Geometry

By Henry D’Andrea
 How it Works:
Molecules are made of atoms. The most
basic of molecules are called elements,
and each lone molecule is one of them. For
example, oxygen, also known as O2, is two
atoms of oxygen that are stuck together.
They work together so that they don’t fall
apart and have no center, extra electrons,
or anything special. Just two atoms.

However, not all molecules are going to be this simple. There can be molecules that
could have, let’s say, 3 atoms. There are some molecules like that you interact with
every day, like dihydrogen monoxide. That’s the chemical name for H2O, the chemical
formula for water. But how can there be more than 2?
 Central Atoms
Central atoms are the atoms that are in the center of a
molecule. Usually in a molecule there is just one. Most of the
time the central atom is the only one of its element. In our
example of water, it’s the only oxygen atom. While the
oxygen atom is in the center, the highest amount of atoms of
one element surround the outside of the molecule, and in this
case it’s hydrogen. In conclusion, we have an oxygen atom in
the center and two hydrogen atoms around it.

The hydrogen atoms in this situation are known as domains.

When there are few domains on an atom, it’s usually going to
have single atom domains, unless it is a pure element (which
has no central atom). The central atom can have lots of
domains if the atom can withstand it. These domains can
have more domains branching off of those, and so on. This
results in almost infinite possibilities to create molecules.
 Bigger Designs
Molecules are never restricted to just two # of Domains Molecular Geometry Bond Angles
domains at once like our previous example. 2 Linear 180º
Remember, the molecules are in the third 3 Trigonal Planar 120º
dimension in general, so they can have
4 Tetrahedral 109.5º
branches of domains in many directions. If
we ignore any electrons pairs, here’s what 5 Trigonal Bipyramidal 90º, 120º and 180º

we can make from one central atom: 6 Octahedral 90º and 180º

Linear
Trigonal Bipyramidal
Guess the Geometry:
Countdown:
Tetrahedral 51
4
3
2
 Chemical Formulas and Names
Writing it
All molecules can be written out in a simple
way that is easy to understand. First, count
how many of each element there is and
then write that number to the right of each
chemical symbol from the periodic table,
unless there is only 1 in which case you
just put the symbol. Now, rearrange these
to be in alphabetical order. That’s all you
need to do. For example, if there is a
carbon atom and 3 hydrogen atoms, you
get CH3. Also note that the second letter in
an element’s name must always be lower-
case, like the u in Au (gold).
Saying it
Saying the molecule’s name is not as easy
as, let’s say C O two. We say carbon
dioxide, right? Well look at this, carbon
stays the same while oxygen has a di in
front of it. That means it’s two, and there is
only one carbon atom. To represent one
when the atom is not first, you put a mono
or mon in front of it, like monoxide. Some
elements slightly change their name when
you say it like that, but you can still get the
point. Then 3 would be tri, and so on. So,
carbon dioxide is the same as 1 carbon and
2 oxygen, or CO2.
 Electron Pairs
Not all molecules are restricted to just Domains Electrons Geometry Angles
elements and atoms. Some molecules 2 1 bent <120º
have pairs of electrons, causing many
more possibilities of molecules to occur. 2 2 bent <109.5º
Pairs of electrons are electrons that are 2 3 linear 180º
stuck together orbiting the central atom.
3 1 Trigonal Pyramidal <109.5º
They act the same way a domain does, but
they have a far stronger gravitational push 3 2 T-shaped 90º and 180º
on the central atom. As a result, any other 4 1 seesaw 90º, 120º and 180º
elements branching off the central atom
are pushed much further away from that 4 2 Square Planar 90º and 180º
pair than they are from other atoms. There 5 1 Square Pyramidal 90º and 180º
can also be more pairs of electrons on a
molecule, making much stranger designs

re
e
th
than those previously discussed.

Hi
Quick Video: Balloon Molecules (with a creepy guy)
 Interesting Facts:
Have you ever seen a perfect triangular
pyramid? If so, you know that all 4 faces
are perfect triangles. However, have you
ever wondered if there was anything
interesting about the corners? If you look at
them from the center of the object, they are
all exactly 109.5º, just like on a tetrahedral
molecule! The reason why is that if all of
the points have to be the same maximum
distance apart while making all those exact
faces, the angles apart from the center
have to be the same, no matter the size.

i n y
Sh
Have you ever had coffee? Well, you
would be surprised to know how many
elements are actually in a caffeine
molecule. There is one very interesting
thing about that molecule, however. You
would be surprised to hear that caffeine
molecules, and many others, don’t have
one central atom. Coffee has 6! Some
molecules can have huge branches of
atoms to make a center, allowing more
domains at once. Carbon, for example, is a
good element for organic material because
it can withstand very large molecules as
the center. That’s how big molecules are
made!
 Quick Summary
Before we continue, I would like to make a quick summary of what we have discussed:
● Molecules are made of atoms
● Molecules can have 1 or many central atoms for supporting more atoms
● The chains off the center are known as domains
● Pairs of electrons can also come in and position themselves in an atom too
● All domains want to be as far away from each other as possible
● The atomic symbol of a molecule is written (for each element) with the amount on
the right with the periodic symbol on the left in alphabetical order
● You already want to leave and stop reading this and I don’t blame you
 POP
More
QUIZ
Domains:
HA GHATI
1010100100101010100101010011010100
5 questions will now appear. You must Write the chemical symbol for
write the answer you think is correct on
1010100101001010101010001010101011
your paper next to the correct number, then
0001011110100110011010101010100101
2:
3:
1: He
the following lists:
move on to the next question. Each
0101010101010101010101010010101010 He
question will be about something you have
1010101010101010010101010100101010
been taught throughout this presentation
1010101010101001001010101010001011
and you will have to answer it with nothing
1010100100101010100101010011010100
4: C
He

but the help given below this line.

10101001010010101010100010
5 helium,
He 8 oxygen, 4 carbon.
He
# of Domains Molecular Geometry Bond Angles
Identify this
M’la
5:
2 Linear 180º
He
3 dTrigonal
y Planar 120º molecule’s
4 Tetrahedral 109.5º geometry
Write and of the elements
the names
3 nitrogen, 6 boron, 2 carbon.
5 Trigonal Bipyramidal 90º, 120º and 180º it’s (possible)
in this model and how many
6 Octahedral 90º and 180º bondatoms
anglesof it there are
 Bibliography: ing... w noth
You sa
Information:
Molecular Geometry. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 June 2017. <http://intro.chem.okstate.edu/1314F00/Lecture/Chapter10/VSEPR.html>
Table Summarizing Molecular Geometries. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 June 2017.
<http://chemed.chem.purdue.edu/genchem/topicreview/bp/ch8/table.html>
Introduction to Molecular Geometry. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 June 2017. <http://chemistry.elmhurst.edu/vchembook/208introgeom.html>

Pictures:
Intro slide: N.p., n.d. Web. 15 June 2017. <https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/GABA-3D-balls.png>
Slide 1: N.p., n.d. Web. 15 June 2017. <http://kaffee.50webs.com/Science/images/oxygen-molecule.png>
N.p., n.d. Web. 15 June 2017. <https://cdn.thinglink.me/api/image/614582226696273920/1240/10/scaletowidth>
Slide 2: N.p., n.d. Web. 15 June 2017. <https://marfdrat.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/h2o.jpg>
Slide 4: N.p., n.d. Web. 15 June 2017. <https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2c/DuPhos_ligands.svg/300px-DuPhos_ligands.svg.png>
Slide 7: N.p., n.d. Web. 15 June 2017. <http://www.cut-the-knot.org/proofs/TriangularPyramid.gif>
N.p., n.d. Web. 15 June 2017. <https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fb/Tetrahedral-3D-balls.png>
Slide 8: N.p., n.d. Web. 15 June 2017. <https://media1.britannica.com/eb-media/28/105428-004-13BB2171.jpg>
Slide 10: N.p., n.d. Web. 15 June 2017. <https://cdn.thinglink.me/api/image/614582226696273920/1240/10/scaletowidth>