Consider the following chemical species: XeF ₄, BF ₃, CO ₃²⁻, SF ₄, NH ₃, PCl ₃ How many of the given species have a strictly planar molecular geometry?

Step-by-step solution

To determine the molecular geometry, we evaluate the steric number and lone pairs for each species using VSEPR theory: XeF ₄ : The central Xe atom has 8 valence electrons. It forms 4 bonds and has 2 lone pairs. The steric number is 6 ( sp^3d^2 ). The two lone pairs occupy opposite axial positions to minimize repulsion, resulting in a square planar geometry, which is planar. BF ₃ : The central B atom has 3 valence electrons. It forms 3 bonds with 0 lone pairs. The steric number is 3 ( sp^2 ). The geometry is trigona