In: Chemistry
The energy of an sp orbital will be: (choose one)
-less than that of an s or p orbital
-greater than that of an a or p orbital
-less than that of an s orbital but greater than that of a p orbital
-less than that of a p orbital but greater than that of an s orbital
The sp orbital is a hybrid orbitals that is formed by overlapping of s and p orbitals. Its energy would be the mean of energies of s and p orbitals.
Answer: less than that of p orbital but greater than that of an s orbital.