Copyright © 2008 Pearson Prentice Hall, Inc.
Chapter 7/
53
Molecular Orbital Theory:
Other Diatomic Molecules
Oxygen, O
2
, is predicted to be
diamagnetic
by
electron-dot structures and valence bond theory.
However, it is known to be
paramagnetic
.
O
2
O
O
Diamagnetic
: All electrons are spin-paired. It is
weekly repelled by magnetic fields.
Paramagnetic
: There is at least one unpaired
electron. It is weakly attracted by magnetic fields.
Pictures of liquid oxygen attracted to the poles of an electromagnet are nice to show at this point.