What is the normal valence angle of carbon?

What is the normal valence angle of carbon?

• A. 90 degrees
• B. 109.5 degrees
• C. 120 degrees
• D. 180 degrees

Answer: (B)

Carbon usually forms four bonds in a tetrahedral arrangement, which gives a bond angle of about 109.5 degrees. This comes from sp3 hybridization, where the four hybrid orbitals spread as far apart as possible in three-dimensional space, placing each bond toward a corner of a regular tetrahedron. The geometry minimizes repulsion between the bonding electron pairs, and the ideal angle between any two bonds ends up around 109.5 degrees. If carbon were adopting sp2 hybridization, as in many double-bonded systems, angles are closer to 120 degrees, and with sp hybridization, they approach 180 degrees. A 90-degree angle would imply a different, less common arrangement not typical for carbon’s valence shell. So the normal valence angle is approximately 109.5 degrees.

Carbon usually forms four bonds in a tetrahedral arrangement, which gives a bond angle of about 109.5 degrees. This comes from sp3 hybridization, where the four hybrid orbitals spread as far apart as possible in three-dimensional space, placing each bond toward a corner of a regular tetrahedron. The geometry minimizes repulsion between the bonding electron pairs, and the ideal angle between any two bonds ends up around 109.5 degrees. If carbon were adopting sp2 hybridization, as in many double-bonded systems, angles are closer to 120 degrees, and with sp hybridization, they approach 180 degrees. A 90-degree angle would imply a different, less common arrangement not typical for carbon’s valence shell. So the normal valence angle is approximately 109.5 degrees.