Valence bond theory and hybridisation

Why this is asked: Hybridisation is decided by the steric number — sigma bonds plus lone pairs on the central atom — not by the number of bonds alone; forgetting a lone pair is the most common way to misassign sp³ to something that's actually sp³d or sp³d² (XeF₄ is sp³d², with two lone pairs on Xe alongside its four bonds).

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