sp^3

[Kainalu Puu-Robinson]

I noticed going through the Sapling that almost all the answers to the hybridization questions were sp^3. Is there a reason why sp^3 is so common, will this be the hybridization for most of the structures we encounter?

[Arieanne De Guzman 2J]

I think sp3 was so common just because of the molecules we were dealing with (I noticed the pattern too). I believe we will be encountering molecules that have other hybridizations because in a workshop I went to, as well as textbook problems, there were hybridizations other than sp3 that was present, so I think it will just depend on what we're given!

[Elizabeth Kaplan 3I]

I think sp3 was so common because it means that the central atom has 4 regions of electron density, and tetrahedral is a common arrangement of electron density. The fact that sp3 was the hybridization for the majority of the Sapling homework may just be a coincidence though.

[Sera Aintablian 2E]

I think sp3 is fairly common, because it is the hybridization for carbon atoms, and carbon is found in all organic molecules!

[Samudrala_Vaishnavi 3A]

It seems to be common considering that when you use the octet rule to complete a lewis structure, there are always four bonds between the central atom and the surrounding atom. In this way, if we consider the electron arrangement of the molecule in terms of the central atom, we will always get four regions of electron density most of the time and therefore a tetrahedral arrangement and an sp3 hybridization.

[Pranav Daggubati 3C]

Most simple molecules are molecules that have carbon, nitrogen, or oxygen as a central atom. This tends to make the electron geometries tetrahedral, therefore implying an sp3 hybridization, just based on how many lone pairs and bonding sites there are on the central atoms.

[Anna Yakura 2F]

I think sp^3 was just common in the sapling because they like giving out molecules with tetrahedral arrangement of electrons, haha.

[Brian Bui 3H]

I see that many examples we do involve organic molecules, which all contain carbon, and carbon has 4 regions of electron density which means sp³ hybridization.

[Madison Wong 3H]

I think it was especially common because sp3 is the hybridization for carbon, and tetrahedrals as it suggests four regions of electron density