Question

In a water molecule, the bond angle of ${104.5}^o$ around oxygen is accounted due to:

• A. high electron affinity of oxygen.
• B. very high repulsions between lone pair and bond pair of electrons.
• C. very high repulsion between lone pair and lone pair electrons.
• D. small size of hydrogen.

Answer 1

Answer: (C)

very high repulsion between lone pair and lone pair electrons.

A bond angle is a geometric angle between two adjacent bonds. Some common shapes of simple molecules include Linear: In a linear model, atoms are connected in a straight line. The bond angle is set at $180°$. For example, carbon dioxide and nitric oxide have a linear molecular shape.