Question

Table of molecular orbital extents — what does it even mean?

Answer 1

Molecular orbital (MO) theory in chemistry describes the distribution of electrons within a molecule. It is a delocalized approach where molecular orbitals extend over all atoms in a molecule or ion.

Step-by-step explanation:

Molecular orbital (MO) theory in chemistry describes the distribution of electrons within a molecule. It is a delocalized approach where molecular orbitals extend over all atoms in a molecule or ion. These molecular orbitals are formed by combining atomic orbitals, resulting in different types of orbitals such as bonding and antibonding molecular orbitals.

Bonding orbitals stabilize a molecule by in-phase combinations of atomic wave functions, while antibonding orbitals are less stable due to out-of-phase combinations.