Why are antibonding orbitals higher in energy?

1 Answer
Jul 20, 2014

Antibonding orbitals are higher in energy because there is less electron density between the two nuclei.

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Electrons are at their lowest energy when they are between the two positive nuclei.

It takes energy to pull an electron away from a nucleus. Thus, when the electrons in an antibonding orbital spend less time between the two nuclei, they are at a higher energy level.