Q.Draw the complete molecular orbital energy level diagrams for Li_2 and also determine its bond order ?
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Bond Order: From Intuition to Precision
Imagine two people trying to hold hands. If both want to hold on, the grip is strong. If one tries to push the other away, the grip weakens. That's the core idea behind bond order — it measures how strongly two atoms are pulling toward each other versus pushing apart.
In a molecule, electrons don't just sit still. They occupy special regions called molecular orbitals. Some of these orbitals are bonding — they concentrate electron density between the nuclei, pulling the atoms together. Others are antibonding — they push electron density away from the region between nuclei, forcing the atoms apart. Every time you fill a bonding orbital, you strengthen the bond. Every time you fill an antibonding orbital, you weaken it.
Think of bonding orbitals as "glue" and antibonding orbitals as "anti-glue." The net glue is what holds the molecule together.
The Precise Definition
Bond order is defined as:
Bond Order=21(Nb−Na)
where Nb is the number of electrons in bonding molecular orbitals and Na is the number of electrons in antibonding molecular orbitals.
The factor of 21 appears because each bond is formed by a pair of electrons. A single bond (like in H2) corresponds to bond order 1, a double bond to 2, and a triple bond to 3.
What Bond Order Tells You
Bond strength increases with bond order. A triple bond (bond order 3) is much harder to break than a single bond (bond order 1). For example, N2 with bond order 3 is extremely stable, while O2 with bond order 2 is less so.
Bond length decreases as bond order increases. More bonding electrons pull the nuclei closer together. A triple bond is shorter than a double bond, which is shorter than a single bond.
Stability — if bond order is zero or negative, the molecule is unstable and will not form. He2 has bond order 0 (two bonding electrons, two antibonding electrons), which is why helium exists as single atoms, not molecules.
Bond order is not simply the number of bonds you draw in a Lewis structure. For molecules like O2, the molecular orbital picture gives bond order 2, matching the double bond in its Lewis structure. But for B2, the Lewis structure suggests a single bond, while molecular orbital theory gives bond order 1 — and experiment confirms the latter. Always trust the molecular orbital calculation.
A Quick Example: H2
Hydrogen has 1 electron per atom, so 2 electrons total. Both go into the bonding orbital (lower energy). Nb=2, Na=0.
Bond Order=21(2−0)=1
That's a stable single bond — exactly what we observe.
Another Example: He2 …
Li2 has 6 electrons filling the molecular orbitals sigma1s2, sigma*1s2, sigma2s2. With 4 bonding and 2 antibonding electrons, the bond order is (4-2)/2 = 1. …
Li2 has the MO configuration sigma1s2 sigma*1s2 sigma2s2 and bond order 1.
Lithium (Z = 3) has 3 electrons, so Li2 has 6 electrons. Filling the molecular orbitals in order of increasing energy:
MO energy-level order (increasing energy):
sigma(1s) -> sigma*(1s) -> sigma(2s) -> ...
Filling 6 electrons:
sigma1s2, sigma*1s2, sigma2s2
Energy-level diagram (schematic):
sigma*(2s) [empty]
2s -------- -------- 2s
sigma(2s) (up-down)
sigma*(1s) (up-down)
1s -------- -------- 1s
sigma(1s) (up-down)
Bond order = (number of bonding electrons - number of antibonding electrons)/2
Bonding electrons = sigma1s(2) + sigma2s(2) = 4
Antibonding electrons = sigma*1s(2) = 2
Bond order = (4 - 2)/2 = 1
…
- CBSE 2026Set ANNUAL1 markMCQQ.Which of the following molecules does not exist?(a) O2(b) H2(c) He2(d) N2
›Reveal solutionSolution
Using molecular orbital (MO) theory, bond order = 1/2 (bonding electrons - antibonding electrons). A bond order of zero means no net bond forms, so the molecule does not exist.
For He2, each He atom contributes 2 electrons, so He2 has 4 electrons total. The MO filling order for these light diatomics is sigma1s, sigma*1s, sigma2s, ...
He2 electron configuration: (sigma1s)^2 (sigma*1s)^2
Bonding electrons = 2, antibonding electrons = 2
Bond order = 1/2 (2 - 2) = 0
…
- CBSE 2026Set ANNUAL1 markQ.What is one half the difference between the number of electrons present in the bonding and antibonding orbitals called?
›Reveal solutionSolution
This quantity is the bond order, defined as half the difference between electrons in bonding and antibonding molecular orbitals.
In Molecular Orbital Theory (MOT), atomic orbitals combine to form bonding molecular orbitals (lower energy, stabilizing) and antibonding molecular orbitals (higher energy, destabilizing). The bond order of a molecule is defined as:
Bond order = 1/2 (Nb − Na) …
- CBSE 2026Set ANNUAL1 markMCQQ.The number of unpaired electrons in a molecule of liquid O2 is(a) 1(b) 2(c) 3(d) 0
›Reveal solutionSolution
O2 has 2 unpaired electrons (paramagnetic).
Using molecular orbital theory for O2 (16 electrons), the last two electrons go one each into the two degenerate π* (antibonding) orbitals (π2px and π2py) with parallel spins (Hund's rule). This leaves …
- CBSE 2025Set ANNUAL1 markMCQQ.Assertion (A): The bond order of helium molecule is zero. Reason (R): The number of electrons in bonding molecular orbitals and anti-bonding molecular orbitals are equal in helium molecule.(a) Both Assertion (A) and Reason (R) are true and Reason (R) is the correct explanation of Assertion (A).(b) Both Assertion (A) and Reason (R) are true, but Reason (R) is not the correct explanation of Assertion (A).(c) Assertion (A) is true, but Reason (R) is false.(d) Assertion (A) is false, but Reason (R) is true.
›Reveal solutionSolution
Filling He2's molecular orbitals gives 2 bonding and 2 antibonding electrons; since bond order = (bonding - antibonding)/2, this comes out to exactly zero, which is precisely why the reason correctly explains the assertion.
Each He atom contributes 2 electrons, so He2 (hypothetical) would have 4 electrons total. Filling molecular orbitals in order of energy:
σ1s2 σ∗1s2
- Bonding electrons (Nb) = 2 (in σ1s)
- Antibonding electrons (Na) = 2 (in σ∗1s)
Bond order formula:
Bond order=2Nb−Na=22−2=0
Assertion: "The bond order of helium molecule is zero." — TRUE, as shown above.
…
- CBSE 2025Set ANNUAL1 markMCQQ.Match the following - Column A: No. of Bonds; match it to the correct entry in Column B.(a) 35(b) 16(c) delta H(d) Bond order(e) Unsaturated
›Reveal solutionSolution
The term describing the number of bonds between two bonded atoms is bond order, matching option (d).
Bond order is defined as the number of bonds (single, double or triple) between two atoms in a molecule. For example, bond order is 1 for a single bond, 2 for a double bond, and 3 for a triple bond -- so 'No. of Bonds' directly c …
- CBSE 2023Set ANNUAL1 markMCQQ.Which one is paramagnetic ?(a) O_2(b) N_2(c) F_2(d) Cl_2
›Reveal solutionSolution
O2 is paramagnetic because of two unpaired electrons in pi* orbitals.
Molecular orbital theory (MOT) explains magnetic behaviour. For O2 (16 electrons) the configuration ends as ...(pi2px2 pi2py2)(pi2px1 pi2py1): the last two electrons occupy the two degenerate pi* antibonding orbitals singly (Hund's rule), giving 2 unpaired electrons — hence paramagnetism, one of MOT's classic triumphs. In N2 the pi* orbitals are empty and all electrons are p …
- CBSE 2023Set ANNUAL1 markMCQQ.Which one has bond order 3 ?(a) Cl_2(b) N_2(c) O_2(d) F_2
›Reveal solutionSolution
N2 has bond order 3.
Bond order = (number of bonding electrons - number of antibonding electrons)/2. For N2 (14 electrons) the MO filling gives 10 bonding and 4 antibonding electrons, so bond order = (10 - 4)/2 = 3, consistent with the N triple-bond N structure. By comparison, O2 has bond order 2, and F2 and Cl2 have bond o …
- CBSE 2022Set TERM11 markMCQQ.Bond order of He2 molecule is(a) 1(b) 0(c) 2(d) none of these
›Reveal solutionSolution
Bond order = (bonding electrons - antibonding electrons) / 2; for He2, the bonding and antibonding electrons exactly cancel out.
Each He atom has 2 electrons, so He2 (if it formed) would have 4 electrons total.
Using molecular orbital (MO) theory, these 4 electrons fill the molecular orbitals in order of increasing energy: sigma1s (2 electrons) then sigma1s (2 electrons) -- i.e. configuration sigma1s2 sigma1s2.
…
- CBSE 2022Set ANNUAL1 markQ.What is the full name of 'LCAO'?
›Reveal solutionSolution
LCAO (Linear Combination of Atomic Orbitals) is the mathematical method used in Molecular Orbital Theory to combine atomic orbitals into bonding and antibonding molecular orbitals.
In Molecular Orbital Theory, atomic orbitals of similar energy and matching symmetry on different atoms are combined (added or subtracted) to give new molecular orbitals that belong to the molecule as a whole. This method is called the Linear Combination of Atomic Orbitals (LCAO): adding two …
- CBSE 2018Set annual1 markMCQQ.The species having bond order different from that of CO2 is:(a) NO-(b) NO+(c) CN-(d) N2
›Reveal solutionSolution
N2, NO+ and CN- are all isoelectronic (14 electrons) with bond order 3; NO- has one extra electron in an antibonding orbital, giving bond order 2.5 - the odd one out.
A note on the printed stem
As transcribed, the question asks for the species with bond order different from 'CO2'. However, CO2 is a triatomic molecule (two separate C=O double bonds, each of bond order 2) and does not fit naturally into a comparison with the diatomic/pseudo-diatomic species given as options (NO-, NO+, CN-, N2). This is a well-known standard question comparing bond orders of the isoelectronic 14-electron species N2, CO, CN-, NO+ (all bond order 3) against NO- (bond order 2.5) - so the intended reference species is almost certainly 'CO' (carbon monoxide), not 'CO2'. The solution below uses this standard interpretation.
Molecular orbital bond order for each species
Using the standard total-electron-count approach for these second-period diatomics (isoelectronic species share the same MO filling pattern and hence the same bond order):
- CO: 14 total electrons, same bonding pattern as N2, bond order = 3.
- N2: 14 electrons, bond order = 3.
- CN-: C (6e) + N (7e) + 1 extra electron (negative charge) = 14 electrons, isoelectronic with N2/CO, bond order = 3.
- NO+: N (7e) + O (8e) - 1 electron (positive charge) = 14 electrons, isoelectronic with N2/CO, bond order = 3. …
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