Determine the Cl–O–Cl bond angle for the OCl 2 molecule.

Determine the Cloclon Angle for OCl 2 molecule. So oxygen is in group 6 a, Chlorine is in group 7 a and there's 2 of them. So we have 20 total valence electrons. We put oxygen in the center, okay, since there's only 1 oxygen and there's 2 chlorines. So here, we then connect the 2 chlorines to it. We put electrons around the surrounding elements so they follow the octet rule. So at this point, we've used 16 of our electrons, meaning we have 4 electrons remaining, which would go on the central element. In this way, everyone is satisfied, everyone is following the octet rule. Now, we'd say here that our structure has in it 2 bonding groups and 2 lone pairs. So that's 4 electron groups total. Remember, when we have 4 electron groups, our bond angle is 109.5 degrees, the ideal bond angle. But since our central element of oxygen has lone pairs, we'd expect our bond angle to be decreased. So we'd say that the bond angle here would be less than 109.5 degrees. Here, we don't have to worry about drawing it as v shaped or bent. We're here, we're just looking for the bond angle. We know the bond angle will be less than 109.5 degrees because of the presence of lone pairs on the oxygen atom.

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4. Molecular Compounds

Bond Angles (Simplified)

GOB Chemistry

4. Molecular Compounds

Bond Angles (Simplified)

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Multiple Choice

Determine the Cl–O–Cl bond angle for the OCl₂ molecule.

>109.5°

<109.5°

>120°

<120°

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Verified step by step guidance

First, recognize that OCl2 is a molecule with a central oxygen atom bonded to two chlorine atoms. This is similar to the structure of water (H2O), where the central atom is also oxygen.

Understand that the electron geometry around the central oxygen atom is tetrahedral due to the presence of two bonding pairs (O-Cl bonds) and two lone pairs of electrons.

Recall that the ideal bond angle for a tetrahedral electron geometry is 109.5°. However, lone pairs occupy more space than bonding pairs, causing the bond angle to be less than 109.5°.

Consider the effect of the lone pairs on the bond angle. The repulsion between the lone pairs is greater than the repulsion between the bonding pairs, which compresses the Cl–O–Cl bond angle.

Conclude that the Cl–O–Cl bond angle in OCl2 is less than 109.5° due to the repulsion caused by the lone pairs on the oxygen atom.