Tetrahedral Carbon the Bonding in Methane

An sp3orbital extends mainly in one direction trom the nucleus and forms bonds with other atoms in that direction. The four s/7 orbitals of any particular carbon atom are directed toward the corners of a regular tetrahedron, as shown in the right-hand part of the figure (in this part of the drawing, the small back lobes of the orbitals have been omitted for simplification, although they can be important in chemical reactions). 

Examples of sigma (cr) bonds formed from s/7 hybrid orbitals. 

A bond angle Is the angle made by two covalent bonds to the same atom. 

A molecule of methane, CH4, is formed by the overlap of the four s/T carbon orbitals with the Is orbitals of four hydrogen atoms. The resulting molecule has the geometry of a regular tetrahedron and contains four sigma bonds of the sp-s type. 

The carbon and two of the hydrogens in methane form a plane that perpendicularly bisects the plane formed by the carbon and the other two hydrogens. 

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