Top topic this week
Questions asked by users might not always be phrased in the clearest way.
To determine the hybridization of a compound, you can follow these steps:
1) Determine the total number of valence electrons in the molecule or ion.
2) Add the number of electrons in the central atom's valence shell to the number of electrons donated by any ligands or surrounding atoms.
3) Divide the total number of valence electrons by 2. This number represents the number of electron pairs around the central atom.
4) Subtract the number of lone pairs from the number of electron pairs to obtain the number of bonding pairs.
5) Use the following table to determine the hybridization based on the number of bonding pairs:
| Number of Bonding Pairs | Hybridization |
|---|---|---|---
| 2 | sp |
| 3 | sp2 |
| 4 | sp3 |
| 5 | sp3d |
| 6 | sp3d2 |
For example, if you have a molecule with 10 valence electrons and 2 lone pairs, you would have 4 bonding pairs. This corresponds to sp3 hybridization.