Qn: Draw the structure and the shape of PCL4 -
If the qn didn't ask for dot and cross diagram but i draw dot and cross diagram, is it accepted?
Originally posted by CaiHongRainx:Qn: Draw the structure and the shape of PCl4 -
If the qn didn't ask for dot and cross diagram but i draw dot and cross diagram, is it accepted?
In the A level exams, always be exam-smart : if you're not sure which answer they want, give both answers. Draw both the Kekule structure (what JC teachers often erroneously call Lewis structure, and what Cambridge calls Displayed Structural Formula) as well as the Dot-and-Cross structure.
In the uninegative (what Cambridge calls mononegative) PCl4- anion, the uninegative formal charge is on the central atom P. Since P is in Group V, it means the P atom has 4 bond pairs and 1 lone pair (ie. 6 electrons in terms of formal charge and hence a uninegative formal charge, and 10 electrons in terms of expanded stable octet).
The electron geometry is trigonal bipyramidal, and the ionic geometry is distorted tetrahedron or see-saw.