Source: wikibot/linear-combination-of-atomic-orbitals
= Linear combination of atomic orbitals
{wiki=Linear_combination_of_atomic_orbitals}
Linear Combination of Atomic Orbitals (LCAO) is a method used in quantum chemistry and solid state physics to describe the molecular orbitals (MOs) of a molecule in terms of the atomic orbitals (AOs) of the individual atoms that make up the molecule. The fundamental idea is that the molecular orbitals can be approximated as linear combinations of the atomic orbitals.