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What type of hybridization occurs in a carbon atom that forms a double bond?
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sp2 hybridization occurs, involving three sigma bonds and one pi bond formed from an unhybridized p orbital.
What role do electrons play in the bonding and antibonding orbitals?
Electrons in a covalent bond occupy the lower energy bonding orbital, but can also jump to the higher energy antibonding orbital upon excitation.
Explain the conservation of orbitals in the formation of an H2 molecule.
Two atomic orbitals combine to form one bonding molecular orbital and one antibonding orbital.
How is a sigma bond formed in an H2 molecule?
A sigma bond is formed by the overlap of two 1s orbitals from each hydrogen atom to create one molecular orbital.
Calculate the bond order of an O2 molecule using its electron configuration.
O2 has 10 bonding electrons and 6 antibonding electrons. Therefore, the bond order is (10-6)/2 = 2, indicating a double bond.
What happens energetically when H2 molecules form?
The molecular orbital formed has lower energy than the individual hydrogen atoms due to electrostatic interactions.
Explain how the concept of hybridization helps understand molecular shapes.
Hybridization mixes atomic orbitals to form new hybrid orbitals that arrange themselves geometrically to minimize repulsion, explaining the observed molecular shapes.
What is the bond order of a nitrogen (N2) molecule?
The bond order of an N2 molecule is 3, indicating a triple bond.
How would you describe the molecular orbital diagram for H2?
The 1s orbitals pair to fill the bonding orbital, resulting in an H2 molecule with a bond order of 1.
Describe the process of carbon atom hybridization to form sp3 orbitals.
Carbon promotes a 2s electron to a 2p orbital and then hybridizes the 2s and all 2p orbitals to form four degenerate sp3 orbitals, each containing one electron, capable of forming four sigma bonds.
What is the relationship between the bond order and the stability of a molecule?
Generally, a higher bond order indicates a more stable and stronger bond.
Identify a molecule with sp2 hybridization and describe its geometry.
Ethene (C2H4) has sp2 hybridization with a planar trigonal geometry and bond angles of approximately 120°.
What characterizes sp hybridization?
sp hybridization involves forming two sigma bonds and a triple bond with two unhybridized p orbitals forming two pi bonds.
Why do sp3 orbitals form a tetrahedral geometry?
sp3 hybrid orbitals aim to minimize electron-pair repulsion, leading to a tetrahedral geometry with bond angles of approximately 109.5°.
What is the significance of hybridized orbitals in molecular formation?
Hybridized orbitals resemble combinations of atomic orbitals and are used to make covalent bonds through the overlapping of orbitals.
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