Question

draw the lewis structure of ch₂nh and then choose the appropriate pair of hybridization states for the two central atoms. your answer choice is independent of the orientation of your drawn structure. click to edit molecule

Explanation:

Step1: Calculate the number of valence electrons

Carbon has 4 valence electrons, hydrogen has 1 valence electron, and nitrogen has 5 valence electrons.
For \(CH_{2}NH\), the total number of valence electrons is \(4+(2\times1)+5 + 1\) (the extra 1 is because of the overall charge, assume it's neutral here, so total \(4 + 2+5=11\) (but we focus on bonding).
Carbon in \(CH_{2}\) part: It forms 3 sigma bonds (two with H and one with N). The formula for hybridization is \(H=\frac{V + M - C + A}{2}\), where \(V\) is valence electrons of central atom, \(M\) is number of monovalent atoms, \(C\) is cationic charge, \(A\) is anionic charge. For the \(CH_{2}\) carbon (central atom), \(V = 4\), \(M=2\), \(C = 0\), \(A=0\). \(H=\frac{4 + 2}{2}=3\), so \(sp^{2}\) hybridization.

Step2: Analyze nitrogen atom

Nitrogen forms 3 sigma bonds (one with C and two with H, assume correct bonding in Lewis structure). \(V = 5\), \(M = 2\) (if we consider H attached to N), \(C = 0\), \(A = 0\). \(H=\frac{5+2}{2}=3.5\) (but actually, in \(CH_{2}NH\), N has 3 sigma bonds and one lone - pair. Using the formula \(H=\) (number of sigma bonds + number of lone - pairs). Number of sigma bonds for N is 3 (one with C and two with H), number of lone - pairs is 1. \(H=3 + 1=4\), so \(sp^{3}\) hybridization.

Answer:

\(sp^{2}/sp^{3}\) (corresponds to option C if option C is \(sp^{2}/sp^{3}\))