Why does the water molecule look bent?
The water molecule maintains a bent shape (bent at 107.5 degrees actually) because of two considerations. First the tetrahedral arrangment around the oxygen and second the presence of lone pair electrons on the oxygen. What are Lone Pair Electrons? These are the electrons that are not involved in the covalent bonds. The pairs of electrons are left alone. In our picture they are represented by the double dots. These lone pairs are very negative – containing two negative electrons each – and want to stay away from each other as much as possible. These repulsive forces act to push the hydrogens closer together. Did you say “Tetrahedral” – What does that mean? Tetrahedral means “four-sided”. In chemistry we interpret this in our imaginations. Draw the central atom in an imaginary space. Next put the atoms attached to the central atom around it such that the distance between them is maximized. The arrangement you’ll adopt will be the form of a regular tetrahedron. This molecular shape is sh
