Question

Explain why the molecular shape of boron trifluoride is trigonal planar.

Answer 1

In boron trifluoride, boron is the central atom. Boron forms one covalent bond with each fluorine atom. Since there are 3 fluorine atoms, 3 covalent bonds will be formed.

3 covalent bonds in a molecule means that it contains 3 bond pairs. Boron trifluoride does not contain any lone pairs. Hence, the covalent bonds get separtated by 120° to have minimum repulsions between them. Therefore, the molecular shape of boron trifluoride is trigonal planar.