Which Species is Most Likely to Exist According to Molecular Orbital Theory?

Join the discussion
Registration is free. Start your own thread to ask a follow-up.
2 replies · 10K views
ultimateguy
Messages
122
Reaction score
1
According to molecular orbital theory, which of the following species is the most likely to exist?

a) [tex]H_{2}^{-2}[/tex]
b) [tex]He_{2}[/tex]
c) [tex]Li_{2}[/tex]
d) [tex]Li_{2}^{-2}[/tex]
e) [tex]Be_{2}[/tex]

I think the answer is c), due to it having a bond order of 1, but I just wanted to make sure.
 
Physics news on Phys.org
The point here is probably to have you assess the respective diatomic compound given form (e.g. ion with a 2- charge) with other possibly more stable electron counts. For instance if you find that H2 is more stable then H2-, then there's an incentive to browse some of the other choices.
 
ultimateguy said:
According to molecular orbital theory, which of the following species is the most likely to exist?

a) [tex]H_{2}^{-2}[/tex]
b) [tex]He_{2}[/tex]
c) [tex]Li_{2}[/tex]
d) [tex]Li_{2}^{-2}[/tex]
e) [tex]Be_{2}[/tex]

I think the answer is c), due to it having a bond order of 1, but I just wanted to make sure.
That's correct. All the others have bond order 0.