Question

When two atomic orbitals combine they form:

• A. a molecular orbital
• B. three molecular orbitals
• C. half a molecular orbital
• D. two molecular orbitals

Answer 1

The correct option is D two molecular orbitals

When two atomic orbitals having similar energies are combined, they form two molecular orbitals, namely, bonding molecular orbital and anti-bonding molecular orbital.
When the two molecular orbitals are formed, one of them has a greater energy than the combining atomic orbitals and the other has a lesser energy than the combining orbitals.