Question

1. a student described a structural diagram of a molecule as follows. 1. the darker atom has five valence electrons 2. the darker atom has one lone - pair 3. the lighter atoms have one bonding electron each 4. the lighter atoms have three lone - pairs the diagram matching these descriptions is

Explanation:

Step1: Analyze valence - electron info

The darker atom has 5 valence electrons and 1 lone - pair. Using the valence - shell electron - pair repulsion (VSEPR) theory, the number of bonding pairs is \(5 - 1=4\).

Step2: Analyze lighter - atom info

The lighter atoms have 1 bonding pair and 3 lone - pairs.

Step3: Match with diagrams

We need to find a diagram where the central (darker) atom has 4 bonding pairs and the outer (lighter) atoms have 1 bonding pair each.

Answer:

The diagram where the central atom has 4 single bonds to outer atoms (the second diagram from the top in the provided image)