Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-chemistry-course-of-the-year-1-of-the-natural-sciences-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2021/paper-1/2/a/ii/solution
Past exam of the chemistry course of the year 1 of the natural sciences course of the University of Cambridge 2021 Paper 1 2 a ii Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-20
O: the two orbitals are the highest occupied, singly occupied spatial orbitals. The next completely empty spatial orbital is . An added electron can instead occupy the opposite-spin vacancy in a singly occupied pi-star orbital; this distinction matters if “LUMO” is being used for an electron-addition spin orbital.
Li: Homo ; next empty sigma orbital conventionally denoted in this elementary diagram. Be: Homo ; the low empty 2p manifold supplies the LUMO candidates, drawn as in the stated light-diatomic ordering. Mixing makes these labels descriptions of dominant atomic-orbital character, not strictly unmixed atomic functions.
This distinction is the open-shell frontier orbital convention.
New to topics? Read the docs here!