What atomic orbitals on the oxygen atom and the hydrogen in water overlap?
The electron configuration for O is 1s22s22p4.
The hydrogen atom 1s1.
So oxygen requires two electrons to be isoelectronic with neon. Looking at
an orbital diagram for oxygen we note that there are two atomic 2p orbitals
that contain unpaired electrons.
So the O-H bonds in water are formed by overlap between a 2p atomic orbital
on oxygen and a 1s atomic orbital on hydrogen.
One very interesing observation must be made. The H-O-H bond angle in water
is 105 degrees. But if we predicted the bond angle in water based on the overlap
of the atomic orbitals we would say the H-O-H angle is 90 degrees. What's wrong
with our prediction? Why is the actual angle so different from the predicted?