Linear combination of atomic orbitals

<p>A linear combination of atomic orbitals or LCAO is a <a href="/facts/Quantum_superposition/4z1UJg9o">quantum superposition</a> of <a href="/facts/Atomic_orbitals/tKhgl6mL">atomic orbitals</a> and a technique for calculating <a href="/facts/Molecular_orbital/0dP30jaa">molecular orbitals</a> in <a href="/facts/Quantum_chemistry/H9AXV0lx">quantum chemistry</a>. In quantum mechanics, <a href="/facts/Electron_configurations/TQjRr22P">electron configurations</a> of atoms are described as <a href="/facts/Wavefunctions/KgM5ykjY">wavefunctions</a>. In a mathematical sense, these wave functions are the <a href="/facts/Basis_set_(chemistry)/rQCPt3yl">basis set</a> of functions, the basis functions, which describe the electrons of a given atom. In <a href="/facts/Chemical_reactions/GpqWlKrz">chemical reactions</a>, orbital wavefunctions are modified, i.e. the <a href="/facts/Electron_cloud/tKhgl6mL">electron cloud</a> shape is changed, according to the type of atoms participating in the <a href="/facts/Chemical_bonding/ArNUMnIB">chemical bond</a>.
</p><p>It was introduced in 1929 by Sir <a href="/facts/John_Lennard-Jones/bIPYBATH">John Lennard-Jones</a> with the description of bonding in the diatomic molecules of the first main row of the periodic table, but had been used earlier by <a href="/facts/Linus_Pauling/cBNBzs5c">Linus Pauling</a> for H2+.
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Linear combination of atomic orbitals open-in-new

Linear combination of atomic orbitals