Which of the following molecules is predicted to be stable according to molecula
Practice Questions
Q1
Which of the following molecules is predicted to be stable according to molecular orbital theory?
He2
Li2
Be2
B2
Questions & Step-by-Step Solutions
Which of the following molecules is predicted to be stable according to molecular orbital theory?
Step 1: Understand what molecular orbital theory is. It explains how atomic orbitals combine to form molecular orbitals, which can be filled with electrons.
Step 2: Identify the molecules in the question: Li2, He2, and Be2.
Step 3: Calculate the bond order for each molecule. Bond order is calculated as (number of bonding electrons - number of antibonding electrons) / 2.
Step 4: For Li2, there are 2 bonding electrons and 0 antibonding electrons. So, bond order = (2 - 0) / 2 = 1. This means Li2 is stable.
Step 5: For He2, there are 2 bonding electrons and 2 antibonding electrons. So, bond order = (2 - 2) / 2 = 0. This means He2 is not stable.
Step 6: For Be2, there are 4 bonding electrons and 2 antibonding electrons. So, bond order = (4 - 2) / 2 = 1. This means Be2 is also not stable.
Step 7: Conclude that only Li2 is stable according to molecular orbital theory.
