Question

What is the molecular shape of phosphorus trichloride (`PCl_3`)? What are the bond angles in this molecule?

Answer 1

Trigonal pyramid, Tetrahedral, `107^@`.

Explanation:

The Lewis structure of `PCl_3` is the following:

This is under the form of `AX_3E` where `X` represents the bounded groups `Cl` and `E` represents the lone pairs.

The geometric shape is: Trigonal pyramid

The electron-pairs arrangement is: Tetrahedral

This is similar to the ammonia molecule `NH_3`.

The bond angle is equal to `107^@`.