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What is the molecular shape of #PF_3#?

Answer 1

#"Trigonal pyramidal"#

There are 4 regions of electron density around the central phosphorus atom, one of which is a lone pair. Given simple VSEPR, a structure based on a tetrahedron is specified. But because we describe structure in relation to atoms, and not electron pairs, the structure of #PF_3# should be pyramidal, an analogue of ammonia.

This site reports that #/_F-P-F=107""^@#, so it seems that we are not too offbase. The #/_F-N-F=102.5""^@# in #NF_3# is included for comparison.

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Answer 2

Kai Bowman

PF3 has a trigonal pyramidal molecular structure.

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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.