The hydrogen molecule can absorb electromagnetic energy or heat energy equal to the energy difference between the sigma bonding and sigma antibonding molecular orbitals. In other words, when the H-H bond forms, each atom loses heat energy equal to 2 x E. The electrons are more stable, lower energy, in the molecular orbital than they were in the separated atomic orbitals. These 2 electrons go to fill the lowest energy molecular orbital, the sigma bonding orbital. We can draw an energy diagram to show this: The average energy of the molecular orbitals must be the same as the energy of the atomic orbitals. This orbital represents the sigma antibonding molecular orbital. There is no electron "glue" between the nuclei. Any electron density in this orbital would cause the hydrogen nuclei to fly apart due to the repulsion between their positive charges. There are two parts to the orbital outside the H-H bond with different mathematical signs. One orbital comes from addition,, the subtraction of the wavefunctions cancels out the region in the center. We can make molecular orbitals by combining these 2 atomic orbital to obtain 2 molecular orbitals. These orbitals are pointing at each other along the z axis, so they will make sigma orbitals. In H 2, we have 2 hydrogen atoms, each with a 1s orbital. The figure on the left represents the function corresponding to +1s on the x,y,z coordinates while the figure on the right represents -1s function. Like all mathematical functions, it can have positive values and negative values. Remember that an orbital is a mathematical function that describes the probability of finding an electron in space. Of course, there are 2s, 2p, 3s, 3p, etc. The average energy of the orbitals can't change, so the average energy of molecular orbitals must equal the average energy of the atomic orbitals that made them up.Ītomic hydrogen has 1 electron in a 1s orbital.The number of orbitals can't change, so the number of atomic orbitals must equal the number of molecular orbitals.Only orbitals that have the same symmetry can combine.There are several rules for the construction of molecular orbitals from atomic orbitals. The orbitals from atoms in a molecule combine to make molecular orbitals. Linear Combination of Atomic Orbitals (LCAO)