Which condition did you change?
Labs / Chemistry
Molecular Shapes
Every electron pair around a central atom wants to get as far from the others as it can. Add bonding pairs and lone pairs with the sliders, drag to spin the molecule, and watch the domains repel into the shape that VSEPR theory predicts — the readouts name the geometry, ideal angle, and hybridization.
Labs / Chemistry / Molecular Shapes
Molecular Shapes
Every electron pair around a central atom wants to get as far from the others as it can. Add bonding pairs and lone pairs with the sliders, drag to spin the molecule, and watch the domains repel into the shape that VSEPR theory predicts — the readouts name the geometry, ideal angle, and hybridization.
Why it matters
Why explore this?
Chemistry connects events too small to see with changes we can measure. This model helps you link particles, energy, and conditions to an observable result.
Explore
Try the model
Shape TetrahedralIdeal 109.5°Hybrid sp³θ now —
Investigate
Questions to test
Predict first, try it in the model, then use what you observe to answer.
What to try
- Start with four bonding pairs and no lone pairs. Why does the "θ now" reading settle near 109.5° instead of the 90° you might have guessed?
- Keep four pairs total but convert them to two bonds and two lone pairs (water). Why does the measured bond angle shrink below the tetrahedral value?
- Compare CO₂ and H₂O — both have two bonds, so what makes one linear and the other bent?
- Push to five and six bonding pairs. Which angles appear now, and why can't every neighbor sit at the same angle?
- If lone pairs push harder than bonds, where would you expect them to sit in a trigonal bipyramid — the crowded equator or the roomy poles?
Explain
Make sense of what happened
Describe what happened at the particle or energy level, then connect it to the result you saw. A strong explanation names both the cause and the evidence.
Check
Before you leave
What happened to the particles or energy?
What observation supports your explanation?
If you can answer all three using evidence from the model, you understand the main idea. If not, return to Explore and change one setting at a time.