Given below are two statements : Statement (I) : The Highest Occupied Molecular Orbital (HOMO) of O₂ molecule in its ground state has a nodal plane perpendicular to the internuclear axis, located between the nuclei. Statement (II) : The Lowest Unoccupied Molecular Orbital (LUMO) of N₂ molecule in its ground state has zero electron density along the internuclear axis. In light of the above statements, choose the most

Step-by-step solution

For Statement I: The molecular orbital electronic configuration of O₂ (16 electrons) is _ 1s ^2 _ 1s ^ *2 _ 2s ^2 _ 2s ^ *2 _ 2p_z ^2 _ 2p_x ^2 = _ 2p_y ^2 _ 2p_x ^ *1 = _ 2p_y ^ *1 . The Highest Occupied Molecular Orbital (HOMO) is the ^ * antibonding orbital. An antibonding molecular orbital is characterized by a nodal plane between the nuclei, perpendicular to the internuclear axis, due to destructive interference. Hence, Statement I is true. For Statement II: The molecular orbital electronic configuration of N₂