When predicting the shape of a molecule made up of three atoms, we find that it is not as easy.

CO2 for example, islinear, with all three of its atoms lining up in a straight line. SO2, however, with almost the same formula, is bent. Why the difference? The answer lies with the electrons found in the valence shell of the central atoms in each molecule, the carbon and the sulfur. Lets start by comparing the Lewis dot diagrams of each of these atoms.

The sulfur atom has only two unpaired electrons and can complete its valence shell by forming two single bonds. The carbon, on the other hand, only has four valence electrons, so making two single bonds wont satisfy the octet rule. To become stable when combining with two oxygen atoms, carbon dioxide must make two double bonds, sharing a total of eight valence electrons.

Why does the sulfur dioxide bend? Notice that the sulfur has two pairs of unshared electrons, which, as do all electrons, repel other electrons, of like charge. These unshared electrons are thought to effectively occupy more three-dimensional space than shared pairs of electrons, which forces the molecule to bend as the electrons repel each other. What if four atoms combine to form a molecule, as in the cases of BH3 and NH3? Again, we dont want to assume that they would have the same shape just because the formulas look so similar. We want to look at the valence shells of each of the central atoms that is, the boron and the nitrogen and see if there will be any unpaired electrons exerting forces on the shared pairs. Notice that once the boron atom makes single bonds with each of the hydrogen atoms, it wont have any unpaired electrons distorting the shape of the molecule. When the shared pairs of electrons repel each other, the molecule will take on the shape called trigonal planar. The nitrogen, on the other hand, will still have a pair of unshared electrons repelling the three single bonds that it forms with the hydrogen atoms. This will push the shared pairs of electrons away, forming a pyramidal molecule. This distinction is not very clear in a Lewis dot diagram, which shows a two dimensional representation of a molecule, but it will be more clear in a three dimensional model, such as the ball and stick models that you probably have in your chemistry laboratory. There are many ways that five atoms can combine to form a molecule, and thus several different shapes are possible. When four atoms of one type surround one atom of another type, as in the example of CH4, a tetrahedral molecule is formed. To understand the reason for this, you must think in three dimensions again. Each of the four shared pairs of electrons (covalent bonds) repel each other. In order to maximize the distance between electrons, the molecule forms a tetrahedral shape. One again, the Lewis dot diagram fails to indicate this, but it is clear in a three-dimensional model for the molecule.