Given below are two statements :
Statement (I) : A π bonding MO has lower electron density above and below the inter-nuclear axis.
Statement (II) : The π^* antibonding MO has a node between the nuclei.
In the light of the above statements, choose the most appropriate answer from the options given below :

Solution

Chemistry ma’am · 4 steps

Picture the p lobes: bonding piles density above and below the axis, antibonding leaves a node between.

1. How pi forms. Two p orbitals lying parallel overlap sideways. The overlap happens in two regions, one above and one below the internuclear axis. The axis itself lies in a nodal plane.
2. Check Statement I. In the bonding π MO the lobes add in phase, so electron density builds up above and below the axis. That build-up holds the atoms together. Statement I says the density is lower, so Statement I is false.
3. Check Statement II. In the π^∗ MO the lobes combine out of phase and cancel in the middle. This gives an extra nodal plane perpendicular to the axis, between the two nuclei. So Statement II is true.
4. So. Statement I is false and Statement II is true, which is option (d).

The idea to keep. Bonding MOs pile electron density into the region where the orbitals overlap. Antibonding MOs cancel it there, leaving a node between the nuclei. For π, that region is above and below the axis.

Answer from the NTA final answer key. Solution by PrepWiser.