What is the hybridization of phosphorous in a P4 molecule

Sp3 , I don't know how because valency of P is 5 , so by V+M-C+A / 2. We get 5/2 ?? . So I think to accommodate 4 more electrons phosphorus sent its 3s1 to 4s and hybridised sp3

what is the hybridizations of P4

sp3

sp^2

To determine the hybridization of phosphorous in a P4 molecule, we first need to understand the concept of hybridization.

Hybridization is a theory that explains the shapes and bonding in molecules. It involves the mixing of atomic orbitals to form new hybrid orbitals that are used for bonding.

In the case of phosphorous in a P4 molecule, we know that phosphorous has an atomic number of 15, indicating that it has 15 electrons. The electron configuration of phosphorous in its ground state is 1s² 2s² 2p⁶ 3s² 3p³.

To determine the hybridization, we need to consider the valence electrons. Since phosphorous is in Group 15 of the periodic table, it has five valence electrons. In a P4 molecule, there are four phosphorous atoms, so a total of 20 valence electrons.

To distribute the electrons around the atoms, we start by pairing each phosphorous atom to form a P-P single bond. This uses eight electrons (four bonding pairs). Each phosphorous atom then contributes one unpaired electron.

Next, we fill the remaining 12 valence electrons as lone pairs around the phosphorous atoms. Each phosphorous atom can accommodate three lone pairs.

Now that we have distributed the electrons, we can determine the hybridization of each phosphorous atom by counting the number of regions of electron density around it. Each bonding pair or lone pair counts as one region of electron density.

In the P4 molecule, each phosphorous atom has a trigonal pyramidal arrangement with four regions of electron density (three bonding pairs and one lone pair). This corresponds to sp³ hybridization.

Therefore, the hybridization of phosphorous in a P4 molecule is sp³.