Does PC5 obey the octet rule?
1 Answer
The chlorine atoms obey the octet rule, but the phosphorus atom does not. In a molecule of phosphorus pentachloride,
http://chemwiki.ucdavis.edu/Theoretical_Chemistry/Chemical_Bonding/Covalent_Bonding
To understand this, we need to look at the electron configuration of a phosphorus atom, which is
http://chemwiki.ucdavis.edu/Theoretical_Chemistry/Chemical_Bonding/Covalent_Bonding
However, in
http://chemwiki.ucdavis.edu/Theoretical_Chemistry/Chemical_Bonding/Covalent_Bonding
http://chemwiki.ucdavis.edu/
Experiments have shown that all five of the bonds with chlorine are identical. This indicates that the orbitals have hybridized, forming five
http://chemwiki.ucdavis.edu/Theoretical_Chemistry/Chemical_Bonding/Covalent_Bonding