In the molecule SF4, sulfur makes four covalent bonds. Therefore, four of its six valence electrons need to be unpaired. The orbitals with the same energy are known as degenerate orbitals. For example, the p subshell has three degenerate orbital, namely, px, py, and pz.
How many degenerate orbitals are needed to contain six electrons with four of them unpaired?
I honestly don’t get the question, can someone give the steps and explain it? The answer would be lovely too, but the method is most important to me
3 Answers
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ok so draw out the oribtal boxes
s O O (2boxes)
p OOO (3)
d (OOOOO) (5)
f (OOOOOOOO) (8)
first rule: fill the boxes with 1 electron each (the answer is the d so lets look)
2 electrons first box, 1 electron, 1 electron, 1 electron, 1 electron
6 total, 1 full box, 4 unpaired
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5
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5 source:masteringchem
