The molecular geometry of BeCl2 (beryllium chloride) is linear.

sp Hybridization: Beryllium Chloride 

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BeCl2

Now that we have 2 uniform, singly occupied orbitals, we can bring in Cl to make Beryllium Chloride.

Cl

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Hybridization State

Linear

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Be

BeCl2

Ground State

4Be  [He] 2s2

Beryllium

Notice there are NO occupied p orbitals for bonding.

Promotion State

BeCl2 bonds should all be equal, but remember that s bonds are stronger than p bonds, so nature has to do something to make the orbitals uniform. That something is hybridization.

To create equal bond strength, we mix different orbitals and create one set of uniform hybrid orbitals.

4Be  [He] 2s2

p

s

sp

As shown on the Periodic Table and represented in this orbital diagram, Chlorine has a Ground State of 17Cl [Ne] 3s23p5  

To make BeCl2, we need 2 singly occupied orbitals to bond.

2

1

BeCl2 bonds should all be equal, but remember that s bonds are stronger than p bonds, so nature has to do something to make the orbitals uniform. That something is hybridization.  

Now that we have 2 uniform, singly occupied orbitals, we can bring in Cl to make Beryllium Chloride.

To make BeCl2, we need 2 singly occupied orbitals to bond.

An electron is promoted to create two singly occupied orbitals for bonding.

4Be  [He] 2s2

[He]

As shown on the Periodic Table, Beryllium has a Ground State of 4Be [He] 2s2 as represented by this orbital diagram.

As shown on the Periodic Table, Beryllium has a Ground State of 4Be  [He] 2s2 as represented by this orbital diagram.  

Chlorine

As shown on the Periodic Table and represented in this orbital diagram, Chlorine has a Ground State of 17Cl [Ne] 3s23p5  

Hybrid Orbital