Question

Describe the shape of the following species:

PF₅

Answer 1

1. PF₅ (phosphorus pentafluoride) has a trigonal bipyramidal shape.
2. It is formed by sp³d hybridisation of the phosphorus atom.
3. It has 5 bonding pairs and no lone pairs on the central atom.
4. Three fluorine atoms form an equatorial plane with 120° bond angles.
5. Two fluorine atoms occupy axial positions with 90° bond angles to the equatorial plane.
6. This shape results in symmetry with different axial and equatorial bond lengths.