Sulphur uses ...... orbitals for bonding in `H_(2)S`

Options

A. `sp^(3)`
B. `sp^(2)`
C. one s and one p
D. pure p orbitals

Answer

To determine which orbitals sulfur uses for bonding in H₂S, we can follow these steps:

### Step 1: Identify the Atomic Number and Electronic Configuration of Sulfur
- Sulfur has an atomic number of 16. This means it has 16 electrons.
- The electronic configuration of sulfur is:
- 1s² 2s² 2p⁶ 3s² 3p⁴.

### Step 2: Determine the Valence Electrons
- The valence electrons are the electrons in the outermost shell (n=3 in this case).
- From the configuration, we see that sulfur has:
- 3s² 3p⁴, which totals to 6 valence electrons.

### Step 3: Understand the Bonding in H₂S
- In H₂S, sulfur forms two bonds with hydrogen atoms.
- Each hydrogen atom contributes one electron to form a bond with sulfur.

### Step 4: Hybridization of Sulfur
- To form bonds in H₂S, sulfur undergoes hybridization.
- The 3s and 3p orbitals can hybridize to form sp³ hybrid orbitals.
- However, in H₂S, sulfur does not use the sp³ hybridization fully because it has two lone pairs of electrons.

### Step 5: Identify the Type of Orbitals Used
- In H₂S, sulfur primarily uses its 3p orbitals for bonding with hydrogen.
- The 3s orbital is already filled, and the hybridization does not involve the 3s orbital in this case.
- Therefore, sulfur uses pure p orbitals for bonding in H₂S.

### Conclusion
- The correct answer is that sulfur uses **pure p orbitals** for bonding in H₂S.

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