Step 1: Identify the NH4+ ion, which consists of one nitrogen (N) atom and four hydrogen (H) atoms.
Step 2: Understand that the '+' sign indicates that the ion has a positive charge, meaning it has lost one electron.
Step 3: Recognize that nitrogen has five valence electrons, and in NH4+, it shares these electrons with four hydrogen atoms.
Step 4: Note that each hydrogen atom forms a single bond with the nitrogen atom, creating four bonding pairs.
Step 5: Use the VSEPR (Valence Shell Electron Pair Repulsion) theory, which states that electron pairs around a central atom will arrange themselves to minimize repulsion.
Step 6: Since there are four bonding pairs and no lone pairs on the nitrogen atom, the shape formed is tetrahedral.
Step 7: Visualize the tetrahedral shape, where the nitrogen atom is at the center and the four hydrogen atoms are at the corners of a tetrahedron.
