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9: The Chemical Bond: Diatomic Molecules

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    37579
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    Diatomic molecules are molecules composed of only two atoms, of the same or different chemical elements. The prefix di- is of Greek origin, meaning "two". If a diatomic molecule consists of two atoms of the same element, such as hydrogen (\(H_2\)) or oxygen (\(O_2\)), then it is said to be homonuclear. Otherwise, if a diatomic molecule consists of two different atoms, such as carbon monoxide (\(CO\)) or nitric oxide (\(NO\)), the molecule is said to be heteronuclear. Diatomic molecules are the easiest molecules to study, and the information we derive from them helps us interpret various kinds of experiments we carry out on more complicated molecules.


    9: The Chemical Bond: Diatomic Molecules is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

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