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  • Lone Pairs in Cl₄: Understanding Molecular Structure and Stability
    You're asking about the number of lone pairs in a Cl₄ molecule. However, Cl₄ doesn't exist as a stable molecule.

    Here's why:

    * Chlorine (Cl) is in Group 17 (VIIA) of the periodic table, meaning it has 7 valence electrons.

    * To achieve a stable octet, chlorine needs one more electron.

    * In a hypothetical Cl₄ molecule, each chlorine atom would be bonded to three other chlorines, forming a tetrahedral structure. This would leave each chlorine atom with only 3 bonds and 4 non-bonding electrons (2 lone pairs).

    * However, this arrangement is highly unstable. The repulsion between the lone pairs and the bonding pairs would make the molecule extremely reactive.

    Instead of Cl₄, you might be thinking of Cl₂ (chlorine gas), which exists as a diatomic molecule with one lone pair on each chlorine atom.

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