Focused Reading Questions

January 20

14.3

7.    What general principle can be used to help you decide which atomic orbitals will participate in the formation of molecular orbitals?

8.    What makes a p orbital a p orbital?

9.    Compare Figure 14.40 to Figure 14.38.  Your text presents a rather complex reason to justify the ordering presented in Figure 14.40.  Consider this.  The s bond from the combination of the 2s orbitals is located between to two atoms.  When the p orbitals combine to form a s bond, this new s bond is expected to occupy the same region of space as the s bond from the 2s orbitals.  It seems reasonable that occupation of the same region of space would raise the energy of the s bond from the 2p orbitals.  However, the p orbitals formed from the combination of the other two 2p orbitals have no such competition for space, and so their energy is lowered.  Which ever explanation you choose, the result remains, and the order of the MOs is as presented in Figure 14.41.

p. 763-765

Read the section entitled "Bonding in Metals"