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hybridization orbitals

Posted: Sun Nov 29, 2020 10:55 am
by 705340227
How do you choose the right hybridization orbital that an atom in a compound uses?

Re: hybridization orbitals

Posted: Sun Nov 29, 2020 11:04 am
by Will Skinner
To find the hybridization orbitals, I count the individual regions of electron density associated with the atom. This includes lone pairs and bonds (keep in mind that a double or triple bond only counts as one region of electron density, not 2 or 3).

If you have two regions of electron density, then the hybridization orbital would be sp.

3 would give sp2.
4 would give sp3.
5, sp3d.
And 6, sp3d2.

Re: hybridization orbitals

Posted: Sun Nov 29, 2020 11:06 am
by Lucy Wang 2J
it depends on its ground state electron configuration. Since C ends at 2p. the hybridization orbital is 2sp

Re: hybridization orbitals

Posted: Sun Nov 29, 2020 11:21 am
by Justin Nguyen 3E
Lucy Wang 1A wrote:it depends on its ground state electron configuration. Since C ends at 2p. the hybridization orbital is 2sp


Is the hybridization of ground state C 2sp because of the 2 electrons in the 2p shell? If it is could someone explain why because I thought the other valence electrons of C could still contribute to bonding and make it sp3.

Re: hybridization orbitals

Posted: Sun Nov 29, 2020 11:26 am
by Yichen Fan 3A
Justin Nguyen 1I wrote:
Lucy Wang 1A wrote:it depends on its ground state electron configuration. Since C ends at 2p. the hybridization orbital is 2sp


Is the hybridization of ground state C 2sp because of the 2 electrons in the 2p shell? If it is could someone explain why because I thought the other valence electrons of C could still contribute to bonding and make it sp3.


All the valence electrons of C in n=2 contribute to the hybridization. For example, 2sp3 comes from one 2s orbital and three 2p orbitals.

Re: hybridization orbitals

Posted: Sun Nov 29, 2020 3:27 pm
by Gigi Elizarraras 2C
I first count the number of regions of electron density there are, and then pick the hybridization orbital with that corresponding number of regions. Because sp3 has 4 regions, it is the hybridization for an atom with 4 regions of electron density. And sp had 2 regions, so it must be from an atom with to regions of electron density.