Consider the H2+ ion. (a) Sketch the molecular orbitals of the ion and draw its energy-level diagram. (b) How many electrons are there in the H2+ ion? (c) Write the electron configuration of the ion in terms of its MOs. (d) What is the bond order in H2+? (e) Suppose that the ion is excited by light so that an electron moves from a lower-energy to a higher-energy MO. Would you expect the excited-state H2+ ion to be stable or to fall apart? (f) Which of the following statements about part (e) is correct: (i) The light excites an electron from a bonding orbital to an antibonding orbital, (ii) The light excites an electron from an antibonding orbital to a bonding orbital, or (iii) In the excited state there are more bonding electrons than antibonding electrons?
