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The VSEPR(Valence Shell Electron Pair Repulsion) predicts that the atoms arrange themselves in such a way that the electron pair repulsion is minimized. Thus the atoms arrange themselves in space in such a manner so as to be as far apart as possible.

What I was wondering was that how do one prove that the shapes are correctly predicted?

For example if looking at the molecule CH4, how do i prove that for maximum distance between the H atoms, they have to arrange themselves around the C atom in a tetrahedral shape.

Restatement:

If I have a ball fixed in space and have four other balls that I have to arrange around it, provided that the 4 balls are at the same finite distance from the fixed ball, how do i prove that the four balls must form a tetrahedral for having the maximum distance between them?

This question was originally posted on Chemistry SE, where a user told me post this question here.

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Harshit Joshi
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  • I believe you were told wrong. If anyone here is able to answer your chemistry question, it will be pure luck. – Ben W Dec 15 '18 at 06:28
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    Given four points (not coplanar) they will form a tetrahedron (not necessarily regular). But since the four H- atoms have the same attributes, then you will necessarily have a regular tetrahedron. In some sense the answer is obvious, but if you want to show this from the level of the many-body Schrodinger equation then that is a whole other story. – Jacky Chong Dec 15 '18 at 06:39
  • @JackyChong But why a tetrahedron and not any other shape like a square? Does the answer involve some very complex math? – Harshit Joshi Dec 15 '18 at 07:15
  • Similar questions with some great answers were asked here, here, here and here – Dibbs Dec 15 '18 at 07:23
  • @Dibbs These do not answer my question as all of these refer to finding the angles of a tetrahedral. – Harshit Joshi Dec 15 '18 at 07:25

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