- #1
Watari
- 5
- 0
Hello all
I have an exam coming up this week but there's something that I don't understand:
Let's take methane, for example.
If I understand it correctly, the bonding orbitals of carbon are all hybridized to sp³ orbitals and overlap with the 1s orbital of four H atoms.
Does the orbital of hydrogen also change in any way?
And the bonds involved here are all sigma bonds. Do the shared electrons of carbon and hydrogen follow a common sigma orbital, or do the orbitals simply overlap but still follow their own distinct paths? If the latter is the case, then what exactly is the definition of a sigma orbital?
Thanks
I have an exam coming up this week but there's something that I don't understand:
Let's take methane, for example.
If I understand it correctly, the bonding orbitals of carbon are all hybridized to sp³ orbitals and overlap with the 1s orbital of four H atoms.
Does the orbital of hydrogen also change in any way?
And the bonds involved here are all sigma bonds. Do the shared electrons of carbon and hydrogen follow a common sigma orbital, or do the orbitals simply overlap but still follow their own distinct paths? If the latter is the case, then what exactly is the definition of a sigma orbital?
Thanks