What does an sp2 orbital look like?

1 Answer
Ernest Z.
Dec 14, 2016

An sp2 orbital looks like a stubby mushroom.

Explanation:

There are three sp2 orbitals, each formed by the combination of a 2s orbital and two 2p orbitals.

They are all the same shape, and they point toward the corners of an equilateral triangle.

sp2
(From 2012 Book Archive)

An sp2 orbital resembles both an s and a p orbital.

The big lobe is roughly spherical like an s orbital, and the two lobes are separated by a nodal surface like a p orbital.

For convenience, we often draw an sp2 orbital with an elongated teardrop shape and even omit the small lobe, but that is not the real shape of the orbital.

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