Question

How is the VSEPR theory used?

Answer 1

VSEPR theory is used to determine the shapes of molecules.

Explanation:

VSEPR is short for Valence Shell Electron Pair Repulsion. It is a theory that basically says that electron pairs (bonding and nonbonding) of the central atom in a molecule will push as far away from each other as they possibly can in three dimensional space.

This means the bonding electron pairs in a molecule like `BeF_2` or `BeCl_2` push as far away from each other as they possibly can and create an angle of `180^0` across the molecule.

Here is a video which discusses other possible arrangements of electrons around the central atom and the shapes these arrangements will produce.

Hope this helps!