LONEPAIR

Lone pair

In chemistry, a lone pair is a valence electron pair which is not shared with another atom, and is sometimes called a non-bonding pair. Lone pairs are found in the outermost electron shell of atoms. They can be identified by using a Lewis structure. Electron pairs are therefore considered lone pairs if two electrons are paired but are not used in chemical bonding. Thus, the number of lone pair electrons plus the number of bonding electrons equals the total number of valence electrons around an atom. Lone pairs are a concept used in VSEPR theory which explains the shapes of molecules. They are also referred to in the chemistry of Lewis acids and bases. However not ...

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lone pair

Noun

  1. a pair of electrons in the valence shell of an atom that does not participate in bonding


The above text is a snippet from Wiktionary: lone pair
and as such is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

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