How many bonding and how many nonbonding electron pairs are there in an NH3 molecule?A) 3 bonding and 0 nonbondingB) 6 bonding and 0 nonbondingC) 3 bonding and 2 nonbondingD) 3 bonding and 1 nonbondingE) 5 bonding and 0 nonbonding

The NH3 molecule, also known as ammonia, has 5 valence electrons from the nitrogen atom and 1 from each of the three hydrogen atoms, totaling 8 valence electrons.

Step 1: Identify the central atom, which is Nitrogen in this case.

Step 2: Count the total number of valence electrons. Nitrogen has 5 valence electrons and each hydrogen atom has 1 valence electron. So, 5 (from Nitrogen) + 3*1 (from 3 Hydrogen) = 8 valence electrons.

Step 3: Draw the Lewis structure. The nitrogen atom forms 3 single bonds with the three hydrogen atoms, using 6 of the 8 valence electrons. This leaves 2 electrons, which form a lone pair on the nitrogen atom.

Step 4: Identify the bonding and nonbonding electron pairs. The three single bonds represent 3 bonding pairs of electrons. The lone pair on the nitrogen atom represents 1 nonbonding pair of electrons.

So, the answer is D) 3 bonding and 1 nonbonding.