Will any hybridized orbital be lower in energy than all unhybridized orbitals?
1 Answer
ORBITAL HYBRIDIZATION EXAMPLE
We know that for example,
So, when one
Each
Any
Hence, with
In fact, the hybridized orbitals become intermediate in energy between the lowest-energy pure orbital and the higher-energy pure orbitals.
HYBRIDIZATION IN GENERAL
Of course, that example doesn't prove it in general, but it does get the main idea across. So now, let's put it this way.
For any
- No matter what, there will be an orbital or two for a particular
#l# that is lowest in energy, whether it's an#ns# orbital, an#(n-1)d# orbital, or an#(n-2)f# orbital, or whatever. - That lowest-energy pure orbital's contribution to the hybridized orbital makes the hybridized orbital more similar in energy to that lowest-energy orbital.
Therefore, the hybrid orbital will always be lower in energy than the highest-energy pure contributing orbital.