In which of the following compounds does the central atom have an incomplete octet?
Practice Questions
1 question
Q1
In which of the following compounds does the central atom have an incomplete octet?
BF3
CH4
H2O
NH3
Boron trifluoride (BF3) has an incomplete octet as boron only has six electrons in its valence shell.
Questions & Step-by-step Solutions
1 item
Q
Q: In which of the following compounds does the central atom have an incomplete octet?
Solution: Boron trifluoride (BF3) has an incomplete octet as boron only has six electrons in its valence shell.
Steps: 6
Step 1: Understand what an octet is. An octet means having eight electrons in the outer shell of an atom.
Step 2: Identify the central atom in the compound. In boron trifluoride (BF3), the central atom is boron (B).
Step 3: Count the valence electrons of the central atom. Boron has 3 valence electrons.
Step 4: Determine how many electrons boron shares with fluorine atoms. In BF3, boron forms bonds with three fluorine atoms, sharing one electron with each.
Step 5: Calculate the total number of electrons around boron. Boron shares 3 electrons (one from each bond) but does not gain any additional electrons.
Step 6: Conclude that boron has only 6 electrons in its valence shell (3 from bonds), which is less than 8, indicating an incomplete octet.
