How many bonding orbitals are in Silicon Tetraflouride, or #SiF_4#?

1 Answer
May 24, 2014

There are four bonding orbitals in SiF₄.

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The Lewis structure of SiF₄ shows a central Si atom attached to four F atoms by single bonds. Since each single bond represents a σ orbital, there are four bonding orbitals in SiF₄.

The Si atom has a steric number SN = 4. This corresponds to a tetrahedral geometry and sp³ hybridization. The Si-F bonds form when an sp³ orbital of F overlaps an orbital of F to form a σ bond.