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Bonding and VSEPR Worksheet

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Bonding and VSEPR Worksheet

Use electron-pair repulsion to predict molecular shapes. Show working where asked. Remember: lone pairs repel more strongly than bonding pairs, and a molecule’s shape affects whether its bond dipoles cancel.

Part A — Bonding and shape

Read each scenario carefully. Choose or explain the best answer.

1.A materials team is investigating which element is most likely to form an ionic compound with chlorine. Choose the best answer.

Carbon
Magnesium
Nitrogen
Fluorine

2.Ammonia, NH₃, has three N–H bonds and one lone pair on the nitrogen atom. What is its molecular shape?

Tetrahedral
Trigonal pyramidal
Trigonal planar
Linear

3.A sensor detects a polar molecule in a gas sample. Which molecule is polar because its bond dipoles do not cancel?

CO₂
CH₄
H₂O
BF₃

4.Methane, CH₄, has four bonding pairs around its central carbon and no lone pairs. What is its approximate H–C–H bond angle?

90°
109.5°
120°
180°

5.An engineer needs a solid material that conducts electricity without first being melted or dissolved. Which bonding type is most likely to provide this property?

Ionic bonding
Covalent bonding
Metallic bonding
Hydrogen bonding

Part B — Lewis structures and molecular reasoning

Show how electron arrangements explain molecular shape and properties.

6.Draw a Lewis structure for H₂O, showing all lone pairs on oxygen. Then explain why the H–O–H bond angle is less than the tetrahedral angle of 109.5°.

7.Sulfur tetrafluoride, SF₄, has four S–F bonds and one lone pair on the central sulfur atom. Use VSEPR theory to predict its molecular shape, state the approximate bond-angle pattern, and decide whether it is polar. Justify your conclusions.

8.For one resonance structure of the nitrate ion, NO₃⁻, nitrogen is bonded to one oxygen by a double bond and to two oxygens by single bonds. Calculate the formal charge on nitrogen and on each type of oxygen. Show the formula or working you use.

9.A student observes that sodium chloride melts at a much higher temperature than water. Explain this difference by comparing the structures and attractions that must be overcome during melting.

Part C — Structure explains properties

Use the particle-level structure to explain observable properties.

10.Diamond and graphite are both made only of carbon atoms, yet they have very different properties. Compare their bonding and structures, then link those structures to hardness, electrical conductivity and a suitable use for each form.

11.A mystery molecule has formula XY₂. It is linear and non-polar, even though each X–Y bond is polar. Suggest a possible real molecule, describe its Lewis structure and explain how it can be non-polar overall.