Question

Why are lone pairs important?

Answer 1

1. A pair of electrons is the one that is not involved directly in bonding but occupies the orbital in an atom.
2. Lone pair refers to those valence electrons that are not shared with any other atom in a covalent bond.
3. These are sometimes called unshared pairs or nonbonding pairs of electrons.
4. The formula used to calculate the lone pairs is: $\frac{\mathrm{Number}\mathrm{of}\mathrm{valence}\mathrm{shell}\mathrm{electrons}\mathrm{of}\mathrm{central}\mathrm{atom}-\mathrm{Number}\mathrm{of}\mathrm{atoms}\mathrm{taking}\mathrm{part}\mathrm{in}\mathrm{bonding}}{2}$
5. They decrease the bond angle between the bonding pair of electrons, and also sued in dative bonding.
6. Example: