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Question
a central atom has two lone pairs on opposite sides and four single bonds. what is the molecule geometry of the result? (1 point) square planar octahedral tetrahedral linear
To determine the molecular geometry, we analyze the central atom's electron - pair arrangement. The central atom has 2 lone pairs and 4 single bonds. The total number of electron - dense regions (lone pairs + bonding pairs) is \(2 + 4=6\), so the electron - pair geometry is octahedral. When there are 2 lone pairs on opposite sides and 4 bonding pairs, the molecular geometry (the arrangement of the bonded atoms) is square planar. Let's analyze the other options:
- Linear geometry typically occurs with 2 bonding regions (e.g., \(CO_2\)) or a specific electron - pair arrangement that doesn't match here.
- Tetrahedral geometry is associated with 4 bonding regions and 0 lone pairs (e.g., \(CH_4\)) or 1 lone pair and 3 bonding pairs (e.g., \(NH_3\) has a trigonal pyramidal molecular geometry, but the electron - pair geometry is tetrahedral), which is not the case here.
- Octahedral is the electron - pair geometry, not the molecular geometry when there are lone pairs affecting the bonded - atom arrangement.
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A. square planar