When drawing the Lewis structure for SF_4, what is the hybridization of the central sulfur atom and its formal charge?

• A. Hybridization: sp^3; Formal charge: +1
• B. Hybridization: sp^3d^2; Formal charge: -1
• C. Hybridization: sp^2; Formal charge: 0
• D. Hybridization: sp^3d; Formal charge: 0

Answer: (D)

Verified step by step guidance

1. Step 1: Determine the total number of valence electrons for SF_4. Sulfur (S) has 6 valence electrons, and each fluorine (F) has 7 valence electrons. Since there are 4 fluorines, total valence electrons = 6 + (4 × 7) = 34 electrons.
2. Step 2: Draw the skeletal structure with sulfur as the central atom bonded to four fluorine atoms. Each S-F bond uses 2 electrons, so 4 bonds use 8 electrons, leaving 26 electrons to be distributed as lone pairs.
3. Step 3: Assign lone pairs to the fluorine atoms first to complete their octets. Each fluorine needs 3 lone pairs (6 electrons), so 4 fluorines × 6 electrons = 24 electrons assigned as lone pairs on fluorines.
4. Step 4: Place the remaining 2 electrons as a lone pair on the sulfur atom. This means sulfur has 4 bonding pairs and 1 lone pair, totaling 5 regions of electron density around sulfur.
5. Step 5: Determine the hybridization based on the number of electron regions around sulfur. Five regions correspond to sp^3d hybridization. Calculate the formal charge on sulfur using the formula: Formal charge = (valence electrons) - (nonbonding electrons) - (bonding electrons/2). For sulfur: 6 - 2 (lone pair electrons) - 8/2 (bonding electrons) = 0.