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Chemistry LibreTexts

5.6: Key Terms

  • Page ID
    478704
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    Example and Directions
    Words (or words that have the same definition)The definition is case sensitive(Optional) Image to display with the definition [Not displayed in Glossary, only in pop-up on pages](Optional) Caption for Image(Optional) External or Internal Link(Optional) Source for Definition
    (Eg. "Genetic, Hereditary, DNA ...")(Eg. "Relating to genes or heredity")The infamous double helix https://bio.libretexts.org/CC-BY-SA; Delmar Larsen
    Glossary Entries
    Word(s)DefinitionImageCaptionLinkSource
    antibonding orbitalmolecular orbital located outside of the region between two nuclei; electrons in an antibonding orbital destabilize the molecule    
    bond ordernumber of pairs of electrons between two atoms; it can be found by the number of bonds in a Lewis structure or by the difference between the number of bonding and antibonding electrons divided by two    
    bonding orbitalmolecular orbital located between two nuclei; electrons in a bonding orbital stabilize a molecule    
    degenerate orbitalsorbitals that have the same energy    
    diamagnetismphenomenon in which a material is not magnetic itself but is repelled by a magnetic field; it occurs when there are only paired electrons present    
    homonuclear diatomic moleculemolecule consisting of two identical atoms    
    hybrid orbitalorbital created by combining atomic orbitals on a central atom    
    hybridizationmodel that describes the changes in the atomic orbitals of an atom when it forms a covalent compound    
    linear combination of atomic orbitalstechnique for combining atomic orbitals to create molecular orbitals    
    molecular orbitalregion of space in which an electron has a high probability of being found in a molecule    
    molecular orbital diagramvisual representation of the relative energy levels of molecular orbitals    
    molecular orbital theorymodel that describes the behavior of electrons delocalized throughout a molecule in terms of the combination of atomic wave functions    
    nodeplane separating different lobes of orbitals, where the probability of finding an electron is zero    
    overlapcoexistence of orbitals from two different atoms sharing the same region of space, leading to the formation of a covalent bond    
    paramagnetismphenomenon in which a material is not magnetic itself but is attracted to a magnetic field; it occurs when there are unpaired electrons present    
    pi bond (π bond)covalent bond formed by side-by-side overlap of atomic orbitals; the electron density is found on opposite sides of the internuclear axis    
    s-p mixingchange that causes σp orbitals to be less stable than πp orbitals due to the mixing of s and p-based molecular orbitals of similar energies.    
    sigma bond (σ bond)covalent bond formed by overlap of atomic orbitals along the internuclear axis    
    sp hybrid orbitalone of a set of two orbitals with a linear arrangement that results from combining one s and one p orbital    
    sp2 hybrid orbitalone of a set of three orbitals with a trigonal planar arrangement that results from combining one s and two p orbitals    
    sp3 hybrid orbitalone of a set of four orbitals with a tetrahedral arrangement that results from combining one s and three p orbitals    
    sp3d hybrid orbitalone of a set of five orbitals with a trigonal bipyramidal arrangement that results from combining one s, three p, and one d orbital    
    sp3d2 hybrid orbitalone of a set of six orbitals with an octahedral arrangement that results from combining one s, three p, and two d orbitals    
    valence bond theorydescription of bonding that involves atomic orbitals overlapping to form σ or π bonds, within which pairs of electrons are shared    
    π bonding orbitalmolecular orbital formed by side-by-side overlap of atomic orbitals, in which the electron density is found on opposite sides of the internuclear axis    
    π* bonding orbitalantibonding molecular orbital formed by out of phase side-by-side overlap of atomic orbitals, in which the electron density is found on both sides of the internuclear axis, and there is a node between the nuclei    
    σ bonding orbitalmolecular orbital in which the electron density is found along the axis of the bond    
    σ* bonding orbitalantibonding molecular orbital formed by out-of-phase overlap of atomic orbital along the axis of the bond, generating a node between the nuclei    

    5.6: Key Terms is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

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