Chemistry · Chemical Bonding

JEE Main 2026 — 21 January, Morning Shift — Question 58

Given below are two statements : one is labelled as Statement I and the other is labelled as Statement II :

Statement I: The number of species among $SF_4,\ NH_4^+,\ [NiCl_4],\ XeF_4,\ [PtCl_4]^{2-},\ SeF_4$ and $[Ni(CN)_4]^{2-}$ that have tetrahedral geometry is 3.

Statement II: In the set $NO_2,\ BeH_2,\ BF_3,\ AlCl_3$ , all the molecules have incomplete octet around the central atom.

In the light of the above statements, choose the correct answer from the options given below:

Option A:
Statement I is true but Statement II is false
Option B:
Both Statement I and Statement II are false
Option C:
Statement I is false but Statement II is true
Correct
Option D:
Both Statement I and Statement II are true

Answer: C

Step-by-step solution

Statement I: $SF_4$ and $SeF_4$ have seesaw geometry. $XeF_4$ and $[PtCl_4]^{2-}$ are square planar. $[Ni(CN)_4]^{2-}$ is square planar. Only $NH_4^+$ and $[NiCl_4]^{2-}$ are tetrahedral. Thus, number of tetrahedral species are 2. So, Statement I is false.

Statement II: $NO_2$ has an odd electron, $BeH_2$ has four electrons around Be, $BF_3$ has six electrons around B, $AlCl_3$ has six electrons around Al. All have incomplete octet. So, Statement II is true.

Thus, statement I is false but statement II is true.

Answer key and solution verified before publishing.

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Exam: JEE Main 2026
Paper: 21 January, Morning Shift
Subject: Chemistry
Chapter: Chemical Bonding
Topic: Hybridization and VSEPR