Question

why would ch₄s electron geometry and molecule geometry likely have the same name? it has double bonds. it only has single bonds. it has a large bond angle. it has no lone pairs.

Explanation:

Electron geometry is determined by the total number of electron - pair (bonding and non - bonding) around the central atom. Molecular geometry is determined by the number of bonding pairs and the number of lone pairs. For \(CH_{4}\), the central atom \(C\) has 4 bonding pairs and 0 lone pairs. When there are no lone pairs, the electron geometry (which is based on the arrangement of all electron pairs) and molecular geometry (based on the arrangement of bonding pairs only) will be the same.

• Option 1: \(CH_{4}\) has only single \(C - H\) bonds, not double bonds. So this option is incorrect.
• Option 2: Having only single bonds does not directly explain why electron and molecular geometry are the same. The key is the absence of lone pairs. So this option is incorrect.
• Option 3: The bond angle (\(109.5^{\circ}\)) is a result of the geometry (tetrahedral), not the reason for electron and molecular geometry having the same name. So this option is incorrect.
• Option 4: Since \(CH_{4}\) has no lone pairs (only 4 bonding pairs around \(C\)), electron geometry (based on 4 electron pairs) and molecular geometry (based on 4 bonding pairs) are both tetrahedral.

Answer:

It has no lone pairs.