Re: TOLC -- antibonding orbitals

mundenhj@PLU.edu
Wed, 11 Sep 1996 13:06:53 -0800 (PST)

On Wed, 11 Sep 1996 normanbj@PLU.edu wrote:

> Ok, I don't think my first message made it, so here it goes again
>
> I can understand where the bonding molecular orbitals are, but where do
> the antibonding electrons fit into molecular orbitals?
>
In response to the question, I believe that there are no electrons
involved in antibonding molecular orbital. If they were they would make
the atoms repel each other. As for the antibonding itself, it's like
when a crest and a trough of a wave meet, at just the right time, they
cancel out producing a node (or 0), and the molecules are held there in
orbit.