A sp3 hybrid orbital contains
1/4 s-character or 2/3 s-character
A sp3 hybrid orbital contains
1/4 s-character or 2/3 s-character
ANSWER :-
A sp3 hybrid orbital contains 1/4-s character.
Explanation: sp3sp3 hybrid orbital has 25% s-character and 75% p--character.
Hybridisation is a purely mathematical concept, which makes it possible to explain experimentally found structures. The most prominent example for this is methane, where you can consider the central carbon atom to be sp3sp3 hybridised. Formally, the ss orbital and the three pporbitals can be linearly combined to form four equivalent orbitals. Hence sp3sp3 is a contraction of s14p34s14p34. Therefore you can see, that the orbital has 25%25% ss character and 75%75% pp character.
Generally, the concept of hybridisation has to be treated as a concept only, it is nothing which can be physically observed. It is a mathematical model to understand geometries better. Please also note, that hybridisation is a function of the geometry, not the other way around. Having said that, it is fairly obvious, that I am not a big fan of the concept. I would not go as far as Alexander Grushow* and preach to abandon the whole thing, but I advise caution in the use of this concept to not obtain wrong conclusions.
Despite significant experimental evidence and theoretical advances to indicate that hybrid atomic orbitals do not exist and do not appropriately describe molecular bonding, their description still permeates chemical education at many levels, and the model still finds its way into modern chemical literature.
A sp3 hybrid orbital contains 1/4-s character.
Explanation:
sp3sp3 hybrid orbital has 25% s-character and 75% p--character.
Hybridisation is a purely mathematical concept, which makes it possible to explain experimentally found structures. The most prominent example for this is methane, where you can consider the central carbon atom to be sp3sp3 hybridised. Formally, the ss orbital and the three pporbitals can be linearly combined to form four equivalent orbitals. Hence sp3sp3 is a contraction of s14p34s14p34. Therefore you can see, that the orbital has 25%25% ss character and 75%75% pp character.
Generally, the concept of hybridisation has to be treated as a concept only, it is nothing which can be physically observed. It is a mathematical model to understand geometries better. Please also note, that hybridisation is a function of the geometry, not the other way around. Having said that, it is fairly obvious, that I am not a big fan of the concept. I would not go as far as Alexander Grushow* and preach to abandon the whole thing, but I advise caution in the use of this concept to not obtain wrong conclusions.
Despite significant experimental evidence and theoretical advances to indicate that hybrid atomic orbitals do not exist and do not appropriately describe molecular bonding, their description still permeates chemical education at many levels, and the model still finds its way into modern chemical literature.
