Anthropology homework help. The ground state of carbon is ##”1″”s”^”2″”2s”^”2″2″””p””^2##. An excited state electron configuration of carbon is ##”1″”s”^”2″”2s”^1″2p”^3″##. This is the state of carbon when it undergoes chemical to form four covalent bonds, as in methane, ##”CH”_”4″##. However, the experimental evidence shows that all four bonds have the same energy, which can only be explained by the concept that the 2s and 2p orbitals hybridize to form four ##”sp”^3## orbitals, each with one unpaired electron.