PF5 Lewis Structure in 5 Steps (With Images)

So you have seen the above image by now, right?

Let me explain the above image in short.

PF5 lewis structure has a Phosphorus atom (P) at the center which is surrounded by five Fluorine atoms (F). There are 5 single bonds between the Phosphorus atom (P) and each Fluorine atom (F).

If you haven’t understood anything from the above image of PF5 (phosphorus pentafluoride) lewis structure, then just stick with me and you will get the detailed step by step explanation on drawing a lewis structure of PF5.

So let’s move to the steps of drawing the lewis structure of PF5.

Steps of drawing PF5 lewis structure

Step 1: Find the total valence electrons in PF5 molecule

In order to find the total valence electrons in PF5 (phosphorus pentafluoride) molecule, first of all you should know the valence electrons present in phosphorus atom as well as fluorine atom.
(Valence electrons are the electrons that are present in the outermost orbit of any atom.)

Here, I’ll tell you how you can easily find the valence electrons of phosphorus as well as fluorine using a periodic table.

Total valence electrons in PF5 molecule

→ Valence electrons given by phosphorus atom:

Phosphorus is group 15 element on the periodic table. ^[1] Hence the valence electrons present in phosphorus is 5.

You can see the 5 valence electrons present in the phosphorus atom as shown in the above image.

→ Valence electrons given by fluorine atom:

Fluorine is group 17 element on the periodic table. ^[2] Hence the valence electron present in fluorine is 7.

You can see the 7 valence electrons present in the fluorine atom as shown in the above image.

Hence, 

Total valence electrons in PF5 molecule = valence electrons given by 1 phosphorus atom + valence electrons given by 5 fluorine atoms = 5 + 7(5) = 40.

Step 2: Select the central atom

For selecting the center atom, you have to remember that the atom which is less electronegative remains at the center.

Now here the given molecule is PF5 (phosphorus pentafluoride) and it contains phosphorus atom (P) and fluorine atoms (F).

You can see the electronegativity values of phosphorus atom (P) and fluorine atom (F) in the above periodic table.

If we compare the electronegativity values of phosphorus (P) and fluorine (F) then the phosphorus atom is less electronegative.

So here the phosphorus atom (P) is the center atom and the fluorine atoms (F) are the outside atoms.

Step 3: Connect each atoms by putting an electron pair between them

Now in the PF5 molecule, you have to put the electron pairs between the phosphorus atom (P) and fluorine atoms (F).

This indicates that the phosphorus (P) and fluorine (F) are chemically bonded with each other in a PF5 molecule.

Step 4: Make the outer atoms stable

Now in this step, you have to check the stability of the outer atoms.

Here in the sketch of PF5 molecule, you can see that the outer atoms are fluorine atoms.

These outer fluorine atoms are forming an octet and hence they are stable.

Also, in step 1 we have calculated the total number of valence electrons present in the PF5 molecule.

The PF5 molecule has a total 40 valence electrons and all these valence electrons are used in the above sketch of PF5.

Hence there are no remaining electron pairs to be kept on the central atom. 

So now let’s proceed to the next step.

Step 5: Check the stability of lewis structure

Now you have come to the final step in which you have to check the stability of lewis structure of PF5.

The stability of lewis structure can be checked by using a concept of formal charge.

In short, now you have to find the formal charge on phosphorus (P) atom as well as fluorine (F) atoms present in the PF5 molecule.

For calculating the formal charge, you have to use the following formula;

Formal charge = Valence electrons – (Bonding electrons)/2 – Nonbonding electrons

You can see the number of bonding electrons and nonbonding electrons for each atom of PF5 molecule in the image given below.

For Phosphorus (P) atom:
Valence electrons = 5 (because phosphorus is in group 15)
Bonding electrons = 10
Nonbonding electrons = 0

For Fluorine (F) atom:
Valence electrons = 7 (because fluorine is in group 17)
Bonding electrons = 2
Nonbonding electrons = 6

From the above calculations of formal charge, you can see that the phosphorus (P) atom as well as fluorine (F) atom has a “zero” formal charge.

This indicates that the above lewis structure of PF5 is stable and there is no further change in the above structure of PF5.

In the above lewis dot structure of PF5, you can also represent each bonding electron pair (:) as a single bond (|). By doing so, you will get the following lewis structure of PF5.

I hope you have completely understood all the above steps.

For more practice and better understanding, you can try other lewis structures listed below.

Try (or at least See) these lewis structures for better understanding:

About author

Jay Rana

Jay is an educator and has helped more than 100,000 students in their studies by providing simple and easy explanations on different science-related topics. He is a founder of Pediabay and is passionate about helping students through his easily digestible explanations.

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