Chemical Bonding II: Molecular Shapes

These flashcards cover key concepts and definitions related to chemical bonding and molecular shape as discussed in the lecture notes.

VSEPR Theory

The Valence Shell Electron Pair Repulsion (VSEPR) model predicts molecular shape based on minimizing electron group repulsions.

Bond Length

The distance between the nuclei of two bonded atoms.

Bond Angle

The angle formed between adjacent bonds.

Electron Group Geometry

The 3D arrangement of electron groups around a central atom.

Molecular Shape

The 3D arrangement of atoms in a molecule.

Formal Charge

The charge assigned to an atom in a molecule based on the difference between the number of valence electrons and the number of non-bonding electrons and half of the bonding electrons.

Dipole Moment

A measure of the charge displacement in a polar bond.

Sigma Bond (σ bond)

A bond resulting from the end-to-end overlap of orbitals, characterized by an electron density concentrated along the bond axis.

Pi Bond (π bond)

A bond resulting from the side-to-side overlap of orbitals, with electron density located above and below the bond axis.

Hybridization

The process of combining atomic orbitals to form new hybrid orbitals that can provide better overlap for bonding.

Molecular Orbital Theory

A theory that describes molecular bonding in terms of molecular orbitals formed from the linear combination of atomic orbitals.

Valence Bond Theory

A model that describes covalent bond formation based on the overlap of atomic orbitals.