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electron occupying unhybridized orbital

Posted: Mon Nov 26, 2018 5:50 pm
by Josephine Lu 4L
why does an electron prefer to occupy an unhybridized orbital before spin pairing in a hybridized orbital?

Re: electron occupying unhybridized orbital

Posted: Mon Nov 26, 2018 9:18 pm
by lindsey_ammann_4E
This is because a hybridization gives the molecule a lower energy state than if it were unhybridized. This makes it more stable.

Re: electron occupying unhybridized orbital

Posted: Mon Nov 26, 2018 9:50 pm
by Danielle_Gallandt3I
This concept is similar to how when an atom has a 4s orbital filled and a 3d orbital with 9 electrons, it is actually at a lower energy to remove one of the electrons from the 4s orbital and add it to the 3d orbital to create a full 3d orbital. It is basically a matter of an atom having an electron configuration with the lowest energy possible because that creates the most stable version. In this situation, the energy required to have an electron in an orbital that already has an electron in it (and therefore has repulsion) is more than the energy required to just put an electron in an unpaired orbital. Since the unpaired orbital is only slightly higher in energy fro the hybrid orbital, the difference in energy is close enough that it makes more sense to have an unpaired electron in that slightly higher energy orbital.