Question

What is the vsepr shape of H2CO3

Answer 1

Answer : The shape of $H_2CO_3$ is, trigonal planar.

Explanation :

Lewis-dot structure : It shows the bonding between the atoms of a molecule.

When we are determining the shape of a molecule then it is important to draw a Lewis-dot structure and for drawing a Lewis-dot structure we should know that how many total number of valance electrons present in a given compound or a molecule.

The given molecule is, $H_2CO_3$

As we know that hydrogen has '1' valence electrons, carbon has '4' valance electrons and oxygen has '6' valence electron.

Therefore, the total number of valence electrons in $H_2CO_3$ = 2 + 4 + 18 = 24

Now we have to determine the hybridization of carbon in $H_2CO_3$

Number of bond pairs = 3

Number of lone pairs = 0

Number of atomic orbitals around carbon atom = 3 + 0 = 3

So, hybridization will be $sp^2$  and the shape is, trigonal planar.

The Lewis-dot structure is shown below.

Answer 2

The lewis structure looks something like this: 
O=C-O ....| ...O 
with the hydrogen atoms bonded to two of the Oxygen atoms. There are two other resonance structures which means that a double bond does not actual exist in the molecule. Instead there's a pair of delocalized electrons that span the entire molecule. This means that all three bonds are actually equal and thus the molecule has a trigonal planar geometry. You can also tell that it's trigonal planar because the central atom is sp2 hybridized.