Write orbital diagrams (boxes with arrows in them) to represen...

Question

Write orbital diagrams (boxes with arrows in them) to represent the electron configurations—without hybridization—for all the atoms in SF₂. Circle the electrons involved in bonding. Draw a three-dimensional sketch of the molecule and show orbital overlap. What bond angle do you expect from the unhybridized orbitals? How well does valence bond theory agree with the experimentally measured bond angle of 98.2° ?

Accepted Answer

Identify the electron configurations for sulfur (S) and fluorine (F). Sulfur has an atomic number of 16, so its electron configuration is 1s² 2s² 2p⁶ 3s² 3p⁴. Fluorine, with an atomic number of 9, has the electron configuration 1s² 2s² 2p⁵.. Draw the orbital diagrams for sulfur and fluorine. For sulfur, fill the 1s, 2s, and 2p orbitals completely, and place four electrons in the 3p orbital. For fluorine, fill the 1s, 2s orbitals completely, and place five electrons in the 2p orbital. Use arrows to represent electrons, with up and down arrows indicating opposite spins.. Circle the electrons in the outermost orbitals of sulfur and fluorine that are involved in bonding. In sulfur, this will be the two unpaired electrons in the 3p orbital. In fluorine, it will be one unpaired electron in the 2p orbital.. Draw a three-dimensional sketch of the SF2 molecule. Show sulfur at the center with two fluorine atoms bonded to it. Indicate the overlap of the unpaired electrons in the sulfur 3p orbitals with the unpaired electrons in the fluorine 2p orbitals to form sigma bonds.. Discuss the expected bond angle in SF2 based on the p-orbital overlap in the valence bond theory, which would predict angles close to 90° due to the p-orbital orientations. Compare this with the experimentally measured bond angle of 98.2°, and explain that the slight deviation might be due to factors like lone pair repulsion affecting the bond angles.

Key Concepts

Orbital Diagrams

Valence Bond Theory

Bond Angles and Molecular Geometry