1. Tardigrade
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  4. H - O - H bond angle in H 2 O is 104.5° and not 109° 28' because of

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Q. $H - O - H$ bond angle in $H _{2} O$ is $104.5^{\circ}$ and not $109^{\circ} 28'$ because of

JIPMERJIPMER 2009Chemical Bonding and Molecular Structure

Solution:

The hybridisation of oxygen in water molecule is $s p^{3}$. So, water molecule must be tetrahedral and have bond angle $109^{\circ} 28$. But due to the presence of two lone pair of electrons on oxygen atom (repulsion between lone pair-lone pair) the bond angle decreases about $104.5^{\circ}$ and the geometry becomes distorted tertrahedral or V-shaped.