Question #3a8f2

1 Answer
anor277
Sep 1, 2017

Well, as with water, the electron pairs are arranged in a tetrahedron....

Explanation:

And thus, we got 6(O)⋅e+3{H}⋅e−1⋅e (to account for the positive charge, and we have to distribute 4 electron pairs around the central oxygen, :+OH3; because oxygen has a share of only 5 valence electrons, (lone pair + 3 bonding electrons) is has a total electron count of 7 electron, with 2 inner core electrons; 7 electrons in total and therefore a formal positive charge.

So the symmetry descends to trigonal pyramidal, i.e. analogous to ammonia:

![imgarcade.com](useruploads.socratic.org)

Related questions
See all questions in Drawing Lewis Structures
Impact of this question
1510 views around the world
You can reuse this answer
Creative Commons License