Molecular Orbitals in Chemical Bonding

9-1 Molecular Orbitals 9-2 Molecular Orbital Energy Level Diagrams 

9-3 Bond Order and Bond Stability 9-4 Homonuclear Diatomic Molecules 9-5 Heteronuclear Diatomic Molecules 9-6 Delocalization and the Shapes of Molecular Orbitals 

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After you have studied this chapter, you should be able to 

Valence bond and molecular orbital theories are alternative descriptions of chemical bonding. They have strengths and weaknesses, so they are complementary. Valence bond theory is descriptively attractive, and it lends itself well to visualization. Molecular orbital theory gives better descriptions of electron cloud distributions, bond energies, and magnetic properties, but its results are not as easy to visualize. 

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Chapter 9 Molecular Orbitals in Chemical Bonding is a stand-alone chapter that may be omitted or moved with no loss in continuity. 

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