Trigonal pyramidal molecular geometry

Trigonal pyramidal molecular geometry is a type of molecular geometry. An atom in a molecule has this geometry if it has chemical bonds connecting it to three other atoms, the outer atoms make a (roughly) equilateral triangle, and this triangle is not on the same plane as the central atom. This makes the atoms the corners of a triangular pyramid.

Trigonal pyramidal molecular geometry occurs because the central atom has one lone pair, which pushes the outer atoms and their bonds away as predicted by VSEPR theory. It is related to tetrahedral molecular geometry, which has a similar shape but with one more atom instead of the lone pair.

Category:Molecular geometry