Scientist Pauling introduced the revolutionary concept of hybridization in the year 1931. He described it as the redistribution of the energy of orbitals of individual atoms to give new orbitals of equivalent energy and named the process as hybridization. In this process, the new orbitals come into existence and named as the hybrid orbitals.

You can find the hybridization of an atom by finding its steric number: The steric number = the number of atoms bonded to the atom + the number of lone pairs the atom has. If the steric number is 4, the atom is s p 3 hybridized. If the steric number is 3, the atom is s p 2 hybridized.

You can find the hybridization of an atom by finding its steric number: The steric number = the number of atoms bonded to the atom + the number of lone pairs the atom has. If the steric number is 4, the atom is s p 3 hybridized. If the steric number is 3, the atom is s p 2 hybridized.

The phenomenon of mixing up of atomic orbitals of similar energy and formation of equivalent number of entirely new orbitals of identical shape and energy is known as hybridisation and new orbitals so formed are called hybrid orbitals.

CH4 (methane)tetrahedral sp3 hybridised