I am a chemistry student. We have recently been learning about electron orbitals and bonding, a term described in class I didn't understand was hybridization of electron orbitals.
Can you help me out and explain hybridization to me? I think it has something to do with the groups of the periodic table.
Yes, hybridization is a concept in chemistry related to the mixing of atomic orbitals to form new hybrid orbitals with different energies and shapes. The idea behind hybridization is to explain the bonding and geometry of molecules, particularly when it deviates from what is expected from the simple electron counting rule.

In molecular bonding, orbitals from adjacent atoms overlap to form chemical bonds, and the hybridization concept allows us to predict the arrangement of atoms in a molecule, their bonding pattern, and their molecular geometry.

Hybrid orbitals are formed by the combination of atomic orbitals of the same or different energy levels, for example, the sp3 hybridization is formed from the combination of one s orbital and three p orbitals, giving rise to four sp3 hybrid orbitals arranged tetrahedrally around the central atom in a molecule.

Different types of hybridization, such as sp, sp2, sp3, and so on, exist to explain different bonding patterns and molecular geometries, and a better understanding of hybridization helps in the prediction of chemical and physical properties of molecules.