CHEM 281 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: Linus Pauling, Molecular Geometry, Covalent Bond

• School: Simon Fraser University
• Department: Chemistry
• Course: CHEM 281
• Professor: Nabyl Merbouh

Document Summary

Chapter 1 notes part 8: electronic structure and bonding. However, we know that the four c- h bonds in methane are identical. The four c-h bonds are identical because carbon uses hybrid atomic orbitals. Hybrid orbitals are mixed orbitals that result from combining atomic orbitals. The concept of combining atomic orbitals, called hybridization, was first proposed by linus. If the one s and three p orbitals of the second shell are all combined and then apportioned into four equal orbitals, each of the four resulting orbitals will be one part s and three parts p. This type of mixed orbital is called an sp3 orbital. The superscript 3 means that three p orbitals were mixed with one s orbital to form the four hybrid orbitals. Each sp3 orbital has 25% s character and 75% p character. The four sp3 orbitals are degenerate that is, they all have the same energy. Like a p orbital, an sp3 orbital has two lobes.