MHT CET Chemistry Question (2026) — Solution

Step-by-step solution

The atomic number of fluorine ( F ) is 9. Therefore, the total number of electrons in the F _2 molecule is 18. According to Molecular Orbital Theory, the electronic configuration of F _2 is: _ 1s ^2 ^ * _ 1s ^2 _ 2s ^2 ^ * _ 2s ^2 _ 2p_z ^2 _ 2p_x ^2 _ 2p_y ^2 ^ * _ 2p_x ^2 ^ * _ 2p_y ^2 The electrons present in orbitals without an asterisk are bonding electrons (N_b), and those in orbitals with an asterisk are antibonding electrons (N_a). Number of bonding electrons (N_b) = 2 ( _ 1s ) + 2 ( _ 2s ) + 2 ( _ 2p_z ) + 2 ( _ 2p_x ) + 2 ( _ 2p_y ) = 10 Number of antibonding electrons (N_a) = 2 ( ^ * _ 1s ) + 2 ( ^ * _ 2s ) + 2 ( ^ * _ 2p_x ) + 2 ( ^ * _ 2p_y ) = 8 Thus, there are 10 bonding electrons and 8 antibonding electrons. Answer: Bonding - 10, Antibonding - 8