Example: When the carbon atom (C), joins four H atoms in bonding to form a CH4 molecular, the 2s orbital is mixed with three 2p orbitals, forming four new identical orbitals, called the four sp3 hybrid orbitals. Four sp3 hybrid orbitals are combined with four 1s orbitals made up of four H-atoms to create four identical C – H bonds.

Hybridization occurs because valence orbitals within different subshells have different energies, shapes, and that must be identical to form stable bonds to other atoms.

An orbital represents the movement electrons within a molecule. This approximation for simple hybridization is based upon the atomic orbitals. These are similar to the orbitals of the hydrogen atom. The Schrodinger equation is the only neutral atom that can be solved precisely. The atomic orbitals for heavier atoms like carbon, nitrogen, or oxygen are 2s, 2p, which is similar to the excited orbital status of hydrogen.