Question

What is the main difference between Atomic Orbital and Molecular Orbital?

Answer 1

Atomic orbital

• Atomic orbital is a function that defines the position and wave like actions of an electron in an atom.
• It can also be defined as the physical region or space where there is the probability of presence of electron.

Molecular orbital

• Molecular orbital is a function that defines the position and wave like actions of an electron in a molecule.
• This function can be used for calculating chemical and physical properties such as the potential for electron acquisition in any specific region.

Differences between atomic and molecular orbital

Atomic orbital	Molecular Orbital
It is any region for greatest probability to find and electron in an atom	It is any region for greatest probability to find and electron in a molecule.
It is formed by an electron cloud around the atom.	It is formed by the fusion of atomic orbitals that have nearly the same energy
The shape is determined by the type of atomic orbital (namely s, p, d, f).	The shape is determined by the shapes of atomic orbitals that make the whole molecule.
Schrodinger equation is used.	Linear combination of atomic orbitals (LCAO) is used.
It is monocentric as it is found around a single nucleus.	Polycentric as it is found around different nucleus.
Single nucleus affects the electron cloud.	More than one nucleus affect the electron cloud.