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In the N2 molecular orbital diagram, we notice that the orbitals are all similar to for O2, except that there are 2 less molecular orbital electrons. This is because a nitrogen atom has 1 less electron than an oxygen atom, and thus N2 has 2 less electrons than O2.
Introduction
I didn’t really have much time this week, so here’s a short gallery of some molecular orbital (MO) diagrams of common molecules. I notice how many of my classmates are struggling to understand MO theory and MO diagrams – this is definitely something I will get to next week. Here is the list of MO diagrams shown in this gallery:
- O2 molecular orbital diagram
- N2 molecular orbital diagram
- H2 molecular orbital diagram
- F2 molecular orbital diagram
- C2 molecular orbital diagram
Notice that all of the above are diatomic molecules. The first four are elements. So, without further ado, let us take a look at the molecular orbital diagrams.
O2 MO diagram
Above, we can see the O2 molecular orbital diagram. Notice that in the middle column, we no longer have the different atomic orbitals; rather, we have special orbitals, such as π2p and π*2p. In the next article, these will be discussed in detail.
N2 MO diagram
In the N2 molecular orbital diagram, we notice that the orbitals are all similar to for O2, except that there are 2 less molecular orbital electrons. This is because a nitrogen atom has 1 less electron than an oxygen atom, and thus N2 has 2 less electrons than O2.
H2 MO diagram
The H2 molecular orbital diagram is much simpler, because a hydrogen atom only contains 1 electron. The hydrogen atom only has a single 1s orbital, making the molecular orbital diagram look much simpler than that of the above two examples.
F2 MO diagram
Since fluorine has a larger number of electrons, the F2 molecular orbital diagram will be more ‘filled’ than in the previous three examples. The orbitals remain the same because fluorine still only has the same shells as the first two examples.
C2 MO diagram
In this C2 molecular orbital diagram, we notice that the molecular orbitals are depicted (seemingly) for the C2 molecule. How is this possible? Remember that the molecular orbitals drawn are simply hypothetical, and does not mean the stable molecule can exist.