how to determine the steric number of hn3 molecule
Answers
Answer:
Explanation:
For a given molecule, the steric number is calculated by counting how many regions of electron density surround the central atom.
A region of electron density can be
a single, double, or triple bond -- all three count as one region of electron density
a lone pair of electrons
In order to calculate the steric number of nitrogen, which is the central atom in ammonia,
NH3
, you must first draw the molecule's Lewis structure.
The molecule will have a total of 8 valence electrons, 5 coming from nitrogen and 1coming from each of the three hydrogen atoms.The nitrogen atom will form single bonds with the three hydrogen atoms, with each of these bonds accounting for 2 valence electrons. The remaining 2 valence electrons will be placed on the nitrogen atom as a lone pair of electrons.
The Lewis structure for ammonia will thus looks like this
see in attachment
Notice that the central atom is surrounded by a total of 4 regions of electron density
- three single bonds
- one lone pair of electrons
You can thus say that the nitrogen atom has a steric number equal to 4 . The steric number tells you the hybridization of the central atom.
In this case, a steric number equal to 4 implies that the nitrogen atom is sp³ hybridized.
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