1. Lewis Structure:
* Sulfur has 6 valence electrons.
* Oxygen has 6 valence electrons each.
* Total valence electrons: 6 + 2(6) = 18
* The Lewis structure of SO₂ shows a double bond between sulfur and each oxygen atom, with one lone pair of electrons on sulfur.
2. Steric Number:
* Steric number = number of atoms bonded to the central atom + number of lone pairs on the central atom.
* In SO₂, the steric number is 3 (2 oxygen atoms + 1 lone pair).
3. Hybridization:
* Steric number of 3 corresponds to sp² hybridization.
Therefore, the hybridization of sulfur (the central atom) in SO₂ is sp².
