draw the molecular orbital (mo) electron diagram for the c₂ molecule. be sure your diagram contains all of…

Explanation:

Step1: Determine number of electrons

Carbon has 6 electrons. In $C_2$, total electrons = 6×2 = 12.

Step2: Fill molecular orbitals

The molecular - orbital energy order for $C_2$ (valence - shell) is $\sigma_{1s}<\sigma_{1s}^<\sigma_{2s}<\sigma_{2s}^<\pi_{2p_x}=\pi_{2p_y}<\sigma_{2p_z}<\pi_{2p_x}^=\pi_{2p_y}^<\sigma_{2p_z}^$. We fill the orbitals with 12 electrons starting from the lowest - energy orbital. The 1s electrons are core electrons. For the valence - shell, we fill $\sigma_{2s}$ with 2 electrons, $\sigma_{2s}^$ with 2 electrons, $\pi_{2p_x}$ and $\pi_{2p_y}$ each with 2 electrons (total 4 electrons in $\pi$ orbitals), and $\sigma_{2p_z}$ with 2 electrons.

Answer:

The molecular - orbital electron diagram for $C_2$ has the following orbital filling (valence - shell): $\sigma_{2s}$ (2 electrons), $\sigma_{2s}^$ (2 electrons), $\pi_{2p_x}$ (2 electrons), $\pi_{2p_y}$ (2 electrons), $\sigma_{2p_z}$ (2 electrons). The core electrons are in $\sigma_{1s}$ (2 electrons) and $\sigma_{1s}^$ (2 electrons). In a diagram, we would represent each orbital as a horizontal line, with arrows indicating the spin of the electrons (up - spin and down - spin for paired electrons). For example, for $\sigma_{2s}$ we would draw a horizontal line with two arrows (one up and one down) to represent the two electrons in that orbital.