Dear Kedar

It is the imaginary mixing of the 2s, 2p_x, 2p_y and 2p_z atomic orbitals of carbon to form a new set of 'hybrid' orbitals that orient themselves in the desired VSEPR geometry.  The hybrid orbitals are equivalent to one another making all orbital overlaps equivalent, therefore, all C-H bonding interactions equivalent.

Hybrid orbitals are named by considering the type and number of atomic orbitals from which they arose.  For CH₄ then the hybridisation for the carbon is sp³

Types of Hybridisations

sp³ hybrids

The first step in hybridisation is the excitation of one (or more) electrons (we consider the carbon atom in methane, for simplicity of the discussion):

The proton that forms the nucleus of a hydrogen atom attracts one of the lower-energy valence electrons on carbon. This causes an excitation, moving a 2s electron into a 2p orbital.

In the case of carbon attempting to bond with four hydrogens, four orbitals are required. Therefore, the 2s orbital (core orbitals are almost never involved in bonding) "mixes" with the three 2p orbitals to form four sp³ hybrids (read as s-p-three). See graphical summary below.

becomes

In CH₄, four sp³ hybridised orbitals are overlapped by hydrogen's 1s orbital, yielding four σ (sigma) bonds (that is, four single covalent bonds). The four bonds are of the same length and strength. This theory fits our requirements.

translates into

An alternative view is: View the carbon as the C⁴⁻ anion. In this case all the orbitals on the carbon are filled:

If we now recombine these orbitals with the empty s-orbitals of 4 hydrogens (4 protons, H⁺) and allow maximum separation between the 4 hydrogens (i.e., tetrahedral surrounding of the carbon), we see that at any orientation of the p-orbitals, a single hydrogen has an overlap of 25% with the s-orbital of the C, and a total of 75% of overlap with the 3 p-orbitals (see that the relative percentages are the same as the character of the respective orbital in an sp³-hybridisation model, 25% s- and 75% p-character).

sp² hybrids

Other carbon based compounds and other molecules may be explained in a similar way as methane. Take, for example, ethene (C₂H₄). Ethene has a double bond between the carbons

For this molecule, carbon will sp² hybridise, because one π (pi) bond is required for the double bond between the carbons, and only three σ bonds are formed per carbon atom. In sp² hybridisation the 2s orbital is mixed with only two of the three available 2p orbitals:

forming a total of 3 sp² orbitals with one p-orbital remaining. In ethylene (ethene) the two carbon atoms form a σ bond by overlapping two sp² orbitals and each carbon atom forms two covalent bonds with hydrogen by s–sp² overlap all with 120° angles. The π bond between the carbon atoms perpendicular to the molecular plane is formed by 2p–2p overlap. The hydrogen-carbon bonds are all of equal strength and length, which agrees with experimental data

sp hybrids

The chemical bonding in compounds such as alkynes with triple bonds is explained by sp hybridization.

In this model, the 2s orbital mixes with only one of the three p-orbitals resulting in two sp orbitals and two remaining unchanged p orbitals. The chemical bonding in acetylene (ethyne) (C₂H₂) consists of sp–sp overlap between the two carbon atoms forming a σ bond and two additional π bonds formed by p–p overlap. Each carbon also bonds to hydrogen in a sigma s–sp overlap at 180° angles.

All the best.

AKASH GOYAL

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see this example

 CH₂=CH-CH₂-CH₂-C_H=C=CH

from left

 C₁ , C₂ ,C₅,C₇  are bonded with one1 double bond so hybridisation =SP²

 C₃ ,C_{4   there is no double bond so hybridisation is SP}³ 

C₆ is bonded with two double bonds so hyberdisation =SP

triple bond = 2 double bond & 1 sigma,

so any carbon bonded through triple bond is SP hybridised