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What are the different types of hybridization?
Posted February 14, 2024

Answer

The different types of hybridization include: sp, sp2, sp3, sp3d and sp3d2. 

  1. Sphybridization occurs when one 's' orbital and one 'p' orbital in the same shell of an atom combine, giving rise to two new equivalent orbitals known as sp hybridized orbitals. These orbitals result in the formation of linear molecules with an angle of 180° between them. 
  2. sp2hybridization occurs when one 's' orbital and two 'p' orbitals in the same shell of an atom combine, leading to the formation of three equivalent orbitals known as sp2 hybrid orbitals. This type of hybridization forms a new hybrid orbital with an angle of 120 degrees between them. 
  3. sp3hybridization occurs when one 's' orbital and three 'p' orbitals from the same shell of an atom combine, resulting in the creation of four equivalent orbitals known as sp3 hybrid orbitals. The angle between the sp3 hybrid orbitals is approximately 109.28 degrees. 
  4. sp3dhybridization occurs when one 's' orbital, one 'd' orbital combine, and three 'p' orbitals resulting in the formation of five sp3d hybridized orbitals with equal energy. These orbitals adopt a trigonal bipyramidal geometry.
  5. sp3d2hybridization involves the combination of one 's' orbital, two 'd' orbitals, and three 'p' orbitals resulting in the formation of six identical sp3d2 hybrid orbitals. These orbitals form an octahedron, positioned at angles of 90 degrees to one another.