Final answer:
Oxygen's paramagnetism is explained by the presence of unpaired electrons in the (¹₂рy, ¹²pz)* molecular orbitals, which can be understood through molecular orbital theory and Hund's rule.
Step-by-step explanation:
Oxygen's paramagnetism is explained by the presence of two unpaired electrons in the (¹₂рy, ¹²pz)* molecular orbitals. According to molecular orbital theory, materials with unpaired electrons are paramagnetic and attracted to a magnetic field. This is in contrast to Lewis structures, which indicate that all electrons in O₂ are paired.
The presence of unpaired electrons in oxygen's molecular orbitals can be attributed to the molecular orbital theory's Hund's rule, which states that electrons spread out before they pair up.