{"id":17066,"date":"2025-06-12T07:37:44","date_gmt":"2025-06-12T07:37:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gaviki.com\/blog\/?p=17066"},"modified":"2025-06-12T07:37:48","modified_gmt":"2025-06-12T07:37:48","slug":"what-is-the-hybridization-of-the-central-atom-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gaviki.com\/blog\/what-is-the-hybridization-of-the-central-atom-in\/","title":{"rendered":"What is the hybridization of the central atom in"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>What is the hybridization of the central atom in (a) PBr5, (b) CH2O, (c) O3, (d) NO2?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color\"><strong>The correct answer and explanation is:<\/strong><\/mark><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The <strong>hybridization of the central atom<\/strong> in each of the following molecules is:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>(a) <strong>PBr\u2085<\/strong> \u2013 <strong>sp\u00b3d<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>(b) <strong>CH\u2082O<\/strong> \u2013 <strong>sp\u00b2<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>(c) <strong>O\u2083<\/strong> \u2013 <strong>sp\u00b2<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>(d) <strong>NO\u2082<\/strong> \u2013 <strong>sp\u00b2<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Explanation (300 words):<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Hybridization<\/strong> is the mixing of atomic orbitals to form new, hybrid orbitals that explain the molecular geometry and bonding in molecules. To determine hybridization, we examine the number of electron regions (bonding and lone pairs) around the central atom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>(a) PBr\u2085 \u2013 sp\u00b3d<\/strong><br>Phosphorus is the central atom, surrounded by 5 bromine atoms. There are 5 bonding pairs and no lone pairs on phosphorus. This gives <strong>5 regions of electron density<\/strong>, which corresponds to <strong>sp\u00b3d hybridization<\/strong>, forming a <strong>trigonal bipyramidal<\/strong> shape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>(b) CH\u2082O (Formaldehyde) \u2013 sp\u00b2<\/strong><br>Carbon is the central atom with 2 single bonds to hydrogen and 1 double bond to oxygen. That\u2019s a total of <strong>3 regions of electron density<\/strong> (each single\/double bond counts as one region), corresponding to <strong>sp\u00b2 hybridization<\/strong>, giving a <strong>trigonal planar<\/strong> geometry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>(c) O\u2083 (Ozone) \u2013 sp\u00b2<\/strong><br>Ozone has a central oxygen atom bonded to two other oxygen atoms, with resonance between single and double bonds and a lone pair on the central atom. This results in <strong>3 regions of electron density<\/strong> (2 bonding pairs and 1 lone pair), so the central oxygen is <strong>sp\u00b2 hybridized<\/strong>. The molecular shape is <strong>bent<\/strong> due to lone pair repulsion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>(d) NO\u2082 \u2013 sp\u00b2<\/strong><br>Nitrogen is the central atom bonded to two oxygen atoms, with one single bond (with a formal negative charge on oxygen) and one double bond. There&#8217;s also one unpaired electron (a single electron counts as a region of electron density). This totals <strong>3 regions<\/strong>, so nitrogen is <strong>sp\u00b2 hybridized<\/strong>, resulting in a <strong>bent<\/strong> geometry. NO\u2082 is an example of a free radical with an odd number of electrons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>In summary, hybridization helps explain molecular shape, and it is determined by counting the electron domains around the central atom.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What is the hybridization of the central atom in (a) PBr5, (b) CH2O, (c) O3, (d) NO2? The correct answer and explanation is: The hybridization of the central atom in each of the following molecules is: Explanation (300 words): Hybridization is the mixing of atomic orbitals to form new, hybrid orbitals that explain the molecular [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17066","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-quiz-questions"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gaviki.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17066","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gaviki.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gaviki.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gaviki.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gaviki.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17066"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gaviki.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17066\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17068,"href":"https:\/\/gaviki.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17066\/revisions\/17068"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gaviki.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17066"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gaviki.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17066"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gaviki.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17066"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}