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Is HCN linear, tetrahedral, or trigonal planar?

Answer 1

This species is linear.

A Lewis formulation counts 1 electron from the hydrogen, 4 from the carbon, and 5 from the nitrogen, so 5 electron pairs to distribute. Hydrogen cyanide is a linear molecule.

We get #H-C-=N:#; there are 2 regions of electron density around the central carbon (we ignore the double bonds), for which VSEPR predicts linear geometry, and all the bound atoms are neutral. Can you tell me the geometry of acetylene, #H-C-=C-H#?

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Answer 2

Christian Anderson

HCN is a linear molecule.

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Answer from HIX Tutor

When evaluating a one-sided limit, you need to be careful when a quantity is approaching zero since its sign is different depending on which way it is approaching zero from. Let us look at some examples.