Here's why:
* Central atom: The central atom (like carbon in CCl₄) has four bonding pairs of electrons.
* Electron pairs: These four electron pairs repel each other as much as possible to minimize their interactions.
* Shape: The optimal arrangement that maximizes the distance between these pairs is a tetrahedral shape. This means the four chlorine atoms are positioned at the corners of a tetrahedron with the carbon atom at the center.
