Question

draw an mo energy diagram of li₂⁺. drag the appropriate labels to their respective targets. labels can be used once, more than once, or not at all. not all targets will be fille

Explanation:

• Lithium (Li) has an atomic number of 3. The electron configuration of Li is \(1s^{2}2s^{1}\), so it has 1 electron in the \(2s\) orbital.
• \(Li^{+}\) is formed by the loss of one electron. Its electron configuration is \(1s^{2}\), so it has 0 electrons in the \(2s\) orbital.
• For \(Li_{2}^{+}\), we combine the \(2s\) orbitals of \(Li\) and \(Li^{+}\). The molecular orbitals formed are \(\sigma_{2s}\) (bonding) and \(\sigma_{2s}^{*}\) (antibonding).
• We fill the molecular orbitals with electrons. Since \(Li\) contributes 1 electron in the \(2s\) orbital and \(Li^{+}\) contributes 0, in total, there is 1 electron to fill the \(\sigma_{2s}\) orbital.

Answer:

• In the \(2s\) orbital of \(Li\): label with 1 electron.
• In the \(2s\) orbital of \(Li^{+}\): label with 0 electrons.
• In the \(\sigma_{2s}\) (bonding) orbital of \(Li_{2}^{+}\): label with 1 electron.
• In the \(\sigma_{2s}^{*}\) (antibonding) orbital of \(Li_{2}^{+}\): label with 0 electrons.