Inorganic help...for the phosphate ion PO4^2-?

Question

can someone help me determine the hybrid orbitals required to explain the arrangement of electron clouds around each atom in the molecules

Thanks

Answer 1

The lewis structure of the phosphate ion (PO4^3- not 2-) is drawn with phosphorous as the central atom and the oxygens as peripheral. It is usually drawn with three singly bonded O atoms and one doubly bonded O, though the octet rule is satisfied for four single bonds - this gives five possible resonance forms.

Since the phosphorous breaks the octet rule I am not entirely sure whether the normal rules for finding hybridization apply. However ...in the normal rules we count the pairs of electrons around the P counting a double bond as one pair. This would give us 4 pairs of electrons for a tetrahedral geometry and an sp3 hybridization.