Question #76f5c

1 Answer
Aditya Banerjee.
Nov 10, 2016

First, it is a concept of VSEPR (Valence Shell Electron Pair Repulsion Theory) .

Explanation:

Hydronium ion is color(red)([H_3O]^+).
So, here the central atom is Oxygen (O).

Since, there is +ve charge on the entire ion, so it is better to consider the +ve charge to be on O atom.

Now, color(red)(O^+) has 5 valence electrons. Out of 5 electrons, 3 will be shared by the three H atoms and other two electrons form one lone pair.

So, In total, there are color(blue)(3) bond pairs and color(blue)(1) lone pair on O atom.

So, it's distribution is TETRAHEDRAL , and the shape is Trigonal PYRAMIDAL in order to allow least possible repulsions.

So, lewis structure and shape of Hydronium ion is :
Brooks
Hope it Helps :)

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