Lone Pairs

[Katie 3H]

Lone pairs count when looking at lewis diagrams for hybridization right? How is this?

[claire smith]

Yes - when trying to determine an atom's hybridization state you look at regions of electron density, not just bonding regions, so lone pairs count. Any molecule with 4 regions of e density would have sp^3 hybridization, for example, regardless of whether or not all 4 regions were bonds.

[butteredbread]

yes, when determining Hybridization include lone pairs because that is a region of electron density!

[Nick Oscarson 1K]

Yes! Any sort of electron density is taken into account for hybridization, therefore including lone pairs.



For example, when looking at the Lewis structure for NH3, we see how the central atom N is bonded to each H with a single bond but it also has a lone pair of electrons. Because of the four regions of electron density (three bonds and one lone pair of electrons), the hybridization would be sp3.

[305749341]

Yes, a lone pair counts as one region of electron density. It is the same as one bond that connects two electrons in terms of electron density.

[205705413]

Yes! lone pairs count. When finding hybridization, count the regions of electron density.

[Diego Gonzalez 1H]

Yes, lone pairs are considered a region of electron density and would therefore be included in any hybridization.

[Ryan Lafferty 1L]

Yes, lone pairs are considered when determining hybridization because they are a region of electron density.

[Marleena]

Yes lone pairs are counted when talking about hybridization. The regions of hybridization is determined by the electron density!

[Allison Mercado-3F]

Yes they count, which is why I always draw a Lewis Structure first

[LaurenAkason2A]

Yes, you include lone pairs when looking at hybridization. It is because the lone pair is still considered a region of electron density. Hope this helps!