What is the orbital hybridization of the central atom S in SF4?

Question

1) sp
2) sp3d
3) sp2
4) sp3d2
5) sp3

Answer 1

The Lewis electron dot structure for SF4 has 10 electrons around the central atom; i.e., that's 4 pairs of electrons for each F atom (8 electrons total) + 2 unpaired electrons for a total of 10. That makes it an AX4U type structure (see-saw). Try sp3d hybridization.