Guide to Hybridization in Organic Chemistry
<p>If you’ve taken general chemistry, then you learned about <em>valence bond theory</em>. According to this theory, a covalent bond is formed when two half-filled orbitals overlap.</p>
<p>For example, let’s look at hydrogen. The electron configuration of hydrogen is <em>1s1</em>. Therefore, hydrogen only needs 1 electron to obtain a noble gas configuration, which is its most stable form. As the two hydrogen atoms approach each other, the potential energy decreases until the hydrogen atoms are at an optimal distance for the formation of the covalent bond. This optimal distance is 74 pm for two hydrogen atoms but the distance varies depending on the atoms involved. If the two hydrogen atoms continue to approach each other, then they will begin to repel each other.</p>
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