Answer to Question #100631 in General Chemistry for Fajar

Question

Why are there bind angle of H2O and NH3 not equal to CH4 although oxygen and nitrogen atom are sp3 hubridized

Answer 1

Due to the weak repulsion existing between the orbitals participating in the formation of the bond and the unoccupied orbitals, the valence angle varies from 109⁰28 in the methane molecule (all four hybrid orbitals participate in the formation of bond) to 107⁰18 in the ammonia molecule (one orbital of four is not occupied) and up to 104⁰30 in the water molecule (two of the four orbitals are not occupied).