Why do lone pairs of electrons repel other electrons pairs farther away than bonding pairs of electrons do?
repulsion among different pairs
Lone-pair versus lone-pair repulsion > lone-pair versus bonding-pair repulsion
> bonding-pair versus bonding-pair repulsion
explanation:
Electrons in a bond are held by the attractive forces exerted by
the nuclei of the two bonded atoms. These electrons have less
“spatial distribution” than lone pairs; that is, they take up less
space than lone pair electrons, which are associated with only one
particular atom. Because lone-pair electrons in a molecule occupy
more space, they experience greater repulsion from neighboring lone
pairs and bonding pairs.
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