Hey, good people of openstudy.
You know how methyl radical has sp^2 orbitals and then one electron in the p orbital.
can you tell me, why then methyl anion has the two electrons in a sp^3 orbital, instead of you know, just having those two electrons in that p orbital like methyl radical.
Also, why not keep them in the s orbital, and use 3 p orbitals for bonding in that case?

Question

Hey, good people of openstudy.
You know how methyl radical has sp^2 orbitals and then one electron in the p orbital.
can you tell me, why then methyl anion has the two electrons in a sp^3 orbital, instead of you know, just having those two electrons in that p orbital like methyl radical. 
Also, why not keep them in the s orbital, and use 3 p orbitals for bonding in that case?