Chemistry - CHEMICAL BONDING Question with Solution | TestHub
For this question z is the axis of a homonuclear diatomic. Both atomic orbitals use one COMMON global phase convention, with their real wave functions proportional locally to x(z−). Ignore radial nodes. Let ψ₊=d+d and ψ₋=d−d. Node counts include angular planes and a transverse internuclear plane when present. Which assignment is correct?
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Answer:
Solution:
At a point between the centres with x>0, the two local z coordinates have opposite signs. Thus their facing lobes have opposite phases: subtraction reinforces density between nuclei, while addition cancels it. Each combination retains the yz node, but addition also has the midpoint transverse node. Under inversion each even-parity d AO maps to the other, so the difference is ungerade and the sum gerade. The bonding difference is therefore πᵤ with one node, and the antibonding sum π with two. The angular character about z, not the AO's letter, distinguishes π from δ.
