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4: Molecular Orbitals

  • Page ID
    241391
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    Screen Shot 2020-07-21 at 10.51.43 AM.pngMolecular Orbital Theory

    Molecular Orbital (MO) Theory is a sophisticated bonding model. It is generally considered to be more powerful than Lewis and Valence Bond Theories for predicting molecular properties, however this power comes at the price of complexity. In its full development, MO Theory requires complex mathematics, though the ideas behind it are simple. Atomic orbitals (AOs) that are localized on individual atoms combine to make molecular orbitals (MOs) that are distributed over the molecule. The simplest example is the molecule, dihydrogen (H2), in which two independent hydrogen 1s orbitals combine to form the sigma bonding and antibonding orbitals of the dihydrogen molecule (see figure). The MO’s are also called Linear Combinations of Atomic Orbitals (LCAO).


    This page titled 4: Molecular Orbitals is shared under a not declared license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Kathryn Haas.

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