Lakhasly

When the two 1s wave functions combine out-of-phase, the regions of high electron probability do not merge.It should be clear that any electrons that find themselves in an antibonding orbital cannot possibly contribute to bond formation; in fact, they will actively oppose it.

We see, then, that whenever two orbitals, originally on separate atoms, begin to interact as we push the two nuclei toward each other, these two atomic orbitals will gradually merge into a pair of molecular orbitals, one of which will have bonding character, while the other will be antibonding.

When the two 1s wave functions combine out-of-phase, the regions of high electron probability do not merge. In fact, the orbitals act as if they actually repel each other. Notice particularly that there is a region of space exactly equidistant between the nuclei at which the probability of finding the electron is zero. This region is called a nodal surface, and is characteristic of antibonding orbitals. It should be clear that any electrons that find themselves in an antibonding orbital cannot possibly contribute to bond formation; in fact, they will actively oppose it.

We see, then, that whenever two orbitals, originally on separate atoms, begin to interact as we push the two nuclei toward each other, these two atomic orbitals will gradually merge into a pair of molecular orbitals, one of which will have bonding character, while the other will be antibonding. In a more advanced treatment, it would be fairly easy to show that this result follows quite naturally from the wave-like nature of the combining orbitals.

What is the difference between these two kinds of orbitals, as far as their potential energies are concerned? More precisely, which kind of orbital would enable an electron to be at a lower potential energy? Clearly, the potential energy decreases as the electron moves into a region that enables it to “see” the maximum amount of positive charge. In a simple diatomic molecule, this will be in the internuclear region— where the electron can be simultaneously close to two nuclei. The bonding orbital will therefore have the lower potential energy.