Question

What is the percentage of s-character in an sp hybrid? O 25% 50% o 75% O 66%

Answer 1

Answer: 50%

Explanation:

The number of electron pairs are 2 for hybridization to be $sp$ and the electronic geometry of the molecule will be linear.

1. percentage of s character in sp hybrid orbital =$\frac{\text {number of s orbitals}}{\text {total number of orbitals}}=\frac{1}{2}\times 100=50\%$

2. percentage of s character in $sp^2$ hybrid orbital =$\frac{\text {number of s orbitals}}{\text {total number of orbitals}}=\frac{1}{3}\times 100=33.3\%$

3. percentage of s character in $sp^3$ hybrid orbital =$\frac{\text {number of s orbitals}}{\text {total number of orbitals}}=\frac{1}{4}\times 100=25\%$

Thus percentage of s-character in an sp hybrid is 50%.