Question

Where are antibonding orbitals found?

Answer 1

1. According to molecular orbital theory, atomic orbitals combine to form new molecular orbitals.
2. The new orbitals are formed by the linear combination of atomic orbitals that form bonding and antibonding orbitals.
3. The bonding orbitals are present in the lower energy whereas the antibonding orbitals are present in the upper energy.
4. Therefore, the electrons are filled first in bonding orbitals.
5. The bonding orbital is denoted by $\sigma$ and the antibonding orbital is denoted by ${\sigma }^{*}$.