The H—O—H bond angles in H3O^+ are approximately 107°. The orbitals used by oxygen in these bonds ar — Chemical Bonding Chemistry Question

💡 Solution & Explanation

Step 1: Determine the number of electron domains (steric number) around the central oxygen atom in the hydronium ion (H3O^+). Step 2: Oxygen has 6 valence electrons, and losing one electron due to the positive charge leaves 5 valence electrons. Three electrons form single covalent bonds with Hydrogen atoms, leaving 1 lone pair. Steric number = 3 bond pairs + 1 lone pair = 4. Step 3: A steric number of 4 corresponds to sp3 hybridization. Thus, oxygen uses sp3-hybrid orbitals for bonding in H3O^+, which matches option (d).