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Does anyone know the molecular shape for XeF6?

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dshimonov33's picture
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Does anyone know the molecular shape for XeF6?

I had it on my test and i've never seen any molecule like it. The first instinct is octahedral but when i did it, I had one extra pair of electrons on the Xe
The choices are:
trigonal pyramidal
trigonal bipyramidal
square planar
seesaw
tetrahedral
octahedral
None of these
Personally i think it's none of these, but if anyone knows, please tell me.
Thank You.

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xenahorse's picture
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Urp...I'd have to dig through my old AP notes from two years ago to help you with this one, and I'm kinda too lazy to do that. Sorry! All I remember about this is that it's strange because fluoride is an exception to the rule. :s I know that's not too much help there...


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dshimonov33's picture
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Thanks anyway. I know this topic really well, this molecule just seemed unusual, i know there's an octet exception, but the numbers of electrons exceeds the regular octahedral shape, so...
I know how it feels to have to go bak to ure old stuff, its there but takes forever to find, lol. At least u tried, lol.

"Music is the movement of sound to reach the soul for the education of its virtue."
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apizhard08's picture
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I think the shape of that molecule is square-base pyramid. Its because of that extra pair of electrons that causes the shape. I have never seen any molecule like that either, but that is my best guess.

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dshimonov33's picture
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Thanks for trying, but i dont think that would be possible because in XeF6, we have 6 single bonds with F (12 e-) and two remaining on the Xe, making a total of 7 places of high e- density. in a square-base pyramid, only 4 F's would fit into the corners of the square. Dont worry, either way it's most likely none of these. Thanks tho.

"Music is the movement of sound to reach the soul for the education of its virtue."
-Plato

monica89135's picture
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i think it's none of the above because of the extra pair of electrons. we just had a test with something like that on it too

AICE kid's picture
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In order to determine the shape of that you would have to know the basic geometry of a sp3d4 hybrid, and then account for the lone pair...do you know the geometry for sp3d4?

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dshimonov33's picture
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wouldnt it be sp3d3 because there are 7 places of electron density, with 6 Fs and on lone pair, 1s+3p+3d=7 electron domains. I also think theres no specific shape for this because that lone pair of electrons could be anywhere and depending on where it is, the shape could vary. Dont worry anymore, I already got my grade for the class. Thanks though.

"Music is the movement of sound to reach the soul for the education of its virtue."
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dshimonov33's picture
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All right, Thanks to all that attempted to answer this question. Happy Holidays!!

"Music is the movement of sound to reach the soul for the education of its virtue."
-Plato

First_Faleyur's picture
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umm this might be a little bit late but
maybe its like SF6? and that ones octahedral so...

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pianogirl2422's picture
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close but it wouldn't First_Fayelur. S is in group 6, so when you have 6 single bonds the S has a formal charge of 0. But Xe is in group 8 or 0 - I like to think 8 - so when you have 6 single bonds the Xe needs a lone pair to make the formal charge of 0.

According to this website (http://ibchem.com/IB/ibnotes/full/bon_htm/14.1.htm) the shape would be pentagonal bi-pyramidal which makes sense.

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