Chemistry - CHEMICAL BONDING Question with Solution | TestHub

Central Atom Hybridization: The central iodine atom has 7 valence electrons + 1 negative charge, forming 2 bond pairs and 3 lone pairs (steric number = 5, sp³d hybridized).

Shape and Bond Angle: The 3 lone pairs occupy equatorial positions to minimize repulsion, resulting in a linear shape with a perfect $180^{\circ }$ bond angle (Statements A and D are true).

Total Lone Pairs: The central iodine has 3 lone pairs, and each terminal iodine has 3 lone pairs, giving a total of 9 lone pairs (Statement B is true).

Bond Order: Since single covalent bonds are formed between the iodine atoms, the bond order of each I–I bond is 1, not 0.5 (Statement C is false).