Chapter 2 : Alkanes |
Bonding in H2 (contd)
On the previous page we saw how two waves can interact in-phase and out-of phase. Now we will look at how this relates to what happens between the 1s orbitals of the two interacting hydrogen atoms.
Now for the electrons.... the electrons are "placed" in the molecular orbitals following the same rules as for filling orbitals in atoms (i.e. lowest energy first). This means the two 1s electrons both go into the bonding molecular orbital, this results in stabilisation of the system. Hence, two H atoms combine to become more stable as a H2 molecule.
IMPORTANT: Only orbitals containing electrons
contribute to the stability of the molecule, so the empty σ*-orbital
has no impact here.
© Dr. Ian Hunt, Department of Chemistry |