Question

Why does Hybridisation occur in Covalent molecules. I've been trying to grasp the concept.
I know that molecules need to attain lowest possible energy state and that Hybridisation forms orbitals that overlap more easily-thus easy bonds. But is there anything else that I'm missing, which is making me uneasy regarding the matter?
A detailed answer would be appreciated.

Answer 1

Well first off, what's the highest math you've taken and second what chemistry class are you in right now?

Answer 2

Basically every atom has a nucleus and electrons. And this relationship is described by a wavefunction. If you square it it tells you the probability of finding an electron near that atom. However, if you add up the wavefunctions on two separate atoms that are near each other, the waves will either be constructive or destructive in their interference. So in a picture it might look like:



So we see that the wavefunctions have a higher value in the space next to each other where they add on top of each other. So when we square it, that space has a higher probability of finding an electron, so that's really the hybridization going on there. Higher likelihood of finding the electron there is basically where the "bond" is, and that higher likelihood of negative charge there attracts the protons from the nucleus, holding it together.

Weird, and I don't really know if I fully understand/believe it, but that's what they keep telling me in my classes. Of course, there's integral calculus, infinite dot products, and other fun stuff going on but hopefully that gives a taste of what's going on. Even though my picture drawing is terrible.