Molecular Orbitals

Why oxygen is magnetic

An interactive lesson with 8 steps, about 7 minutes: you predict, drag and solve, with instant feedback on every answer. It runs in your browser and needs JavaScript.

What you’ll learn

• Bonding orbitals lower the energy; antibonding (*) raise it.
• Bond order = (bonding − antibonding electrons) ÷ 2.
• O₂ has two unpaired π* electrons: it is paramagnetic.

Steps

1. Orbitals that belong to the whole molecule
2. Waves in step, waves out of step
3. No helium molecule
4. The second row
5. Bond order of O₂
6. Liquid oxygen on a magnet
7. The triple bond
8. Two and a half