Hydrogen fluoride (HF) and hydrogen chloride (HCl) are both polar diatomic molecules, but the H–F bond has a higher bond dissociation energy than the H–Cl bond.
Use concepts of orbital overlap and hybridization to account for this observation.
a. Identify the two orbitals that overlap to form the σ bond in HF.
b. Identify the two orbitals that overlap to form the σ bond in HCl.
c. Relate the nature of these overlapping orbitals to the observed difference in bond dissociation energies between HF and HCl.