I thought the answer to which of these shapes is not planar would be ClF3 since I thought it is t-shaped. Why is the correct answer PCl3? PCl3 is trigonal pyramidal, right?
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In PCl3 we have 1 lonepair of electrons at phosphorous and 3 Single bonds to each chlorine. It is similar like ammonia shape.

Quote from: ann on October 30, 2022, 06:16:47 PM
I thought the answer to which of these shapes is not planar would be ClF3 since I thought it is t-shaped. Why is the correct answer PCl3? PCl3 is trigonal pyramidal, right?

BCl₃ is trigonal planar which is planar shape.
ClF₃ is T shaped which is also planar - all 4 atoms in the same plane.
XeF₄ is square planar in which all 5 atoms are in the same plane.
However ,PCl₃ is trigonal pyramidal which means it is non planar like a tetrahedral in which P atom is making a pyramid on the base of three chlorine atoms.