Hybridization is a concept in chemistry that involves mixing two atomic orbitals to create a new type of hybridized orbital. This process results in the formation of hybrid orbitals with different energies, shapes, and other properties than the component atomic orbitals. Hybridization occurs when two atomic orbitals combine to form a hybrid orbital in a molecule, and the energy of the orbitals of individual atoms is redistributed to give orbitals of equivalent energy. The atomic orbitals of comparable energies are mixed together during the hybridization process, which mostly involves the merging of two orbitals or two ‘p’ orbitals or the mixing of an ‘s’ orbital with a ‘p’ orbital as well as an ‘s’ orbital with a ‘d’ orbital.

Some key points to note about hybridization are:

• The number of hybrid orbitals formed is equal to the number of atomic orbitals mixed.
• It is not necessary that all the half-filled orbitals must participate in hybridization. Even completely filled orbitals with slightly different energies can also participate.
• Hybridization happens only during the bond formation and not in an isolated gaseous atom.
• The shape of the molecule can be predicted if the hybridization of the molecule is known.

Hybridization is an integral part of organic chemistry, and it helps to explain molecule shape, since the angles between bonds are approximately equal to the angles between hybrid orbitals. Hybridization theory explains bonding in alkenes and methane, and the amount of p character or s character, which is decided mainly by orbital hybridization, can be used to reliably predict molecular properties such as acidity or basicity.