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  • Lone Pairs on Phosphorus in PCl3: A Detailed Explanation
    PCl3 has one lone pair of electrons on the phosphorus atom.

    Here's why:

    * Phosphorus (P) has 5 valence electrons.

    * Chlorine (Cl) has 7 valence electrons.

    * In PCl3, phosphorus forms 3 single bonds with 3 chlorine atoms. This uses up 3 of phosphorus's valence electrons.

    * The remaining 2 valence electrons on phosphorus form a lone pair.

    You can visualize this with a Lewis structure, where the lone pair is shown as two dots on the phosphorus atom.

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