Question

How do you draw the Lewis structure for the molecule containing one C and four F atoms?

Answer 1

Four valence electrons on carbon, and 7 valence electrons on fluorine.

Explanation:

We have 32 valence electrons to distribute around 5 centres. And this gives 4 `C-F` bonds, and 3 lone pairs around each fluorine atom, i.e. 16 electron pairs as required.

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Because there are FOUR regions of electron density around the central carbon atoms, VESPER predicts that the most stable geometry is tetrahedral with respect to carbon, with `/_F-C-F=109.5^@`. The electronic geometry around each fluorine atom would also be tetrahedral, but we have no handle here.