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Orbital Hybridization, Defined

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Orbital hybridization mixes an atom's s and p orbitals into a new set of equivalent hybrid orbitals, oriented to match its VSEPR geometry.

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Mixing one 2s orbital and three 2p orbitals on carbon produces four identical hybrid orbitals, replacing the original four.

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Only orbitals entering the mix get replaced; sp and sp² hybridization leaves some p orbitals unhybridized, unlike sp3.