What are the orbital shape and dimension for a Hydrogen molecule?

Question

H2 the Hydrogen Molecule has two electrons.

Answer 1

1. There are two molecular orbitals for hydrogen, the lower energy orbital has its greater electron density between the two nuclei. This is the bonding molecular orbital - and is of lower energy than the two 1s atomic orbitals of hydrogen atoms making this orbital more stable than two seperated atomic hydrogen orbitals. The upper molecular orbital has a node in the electronic wave function and the electron density is low between the two positively charged nuclei. The energy of the upper orbital is greater than that of the 1s atomic orbital, and such an orbital is called an antibonding molecular orbital.
Normally, the two electrons in hydrogen occupy the bonding molecular orbital, with anti-parallel spins. If molecular hydrogen is irradiated by ultra-violet (UV) light, the molecule may absorb the energy, and promote one electron into its antibonding orbital (s*), and the atoms will seperate. The energy levels in a hydrogen molecule can be represented in a diagram - showing how the two 1s atomic orbitals combine to form two molecular orbitals, one bonding (s) and one antibonding (s*). This is shown below - by clicking upon either the s or s* molecular orbital in the diagram - it will show graphically in a window to the right.

2.Hybridisation
The Valence Bond model suggests that for a covalent bond to form, two atomic orbitals must overlap sufficiently so that electrons can be shared. However, if the hydrogen atoms are positioned tetrahedrally, not all of them will overlap with orbitals on the carbon atom. This is because the carbon's p orbitals are positioned octahedrally, whereas the hydrogen atoms are orientated tetrahedrally. How does the VSEPR model account for this problem? By inventing hybrid orbitals (N.B. these were proposed by Linus Pauling). In the carbon atom, the 2s and 2p orbitals have different energies. If the 2s orbital combines with the three 2p orbitals, four new sp3 hybrid orbitals will be formed. These new hybrid orbitals are identical - they are arranged tetrahedrally and have the same energy (they are degenerate). The 1s orbitals from the hydrogen atoms can now overlap with the sp3 hybrid orbitals, forming single covalent bonds.

Important: insert a picture of formation of hybrid orbitals (energy levels)

Geometries of Hybrid Orbitals

sp
sp2
sp3
sp3d
sp3d2

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Lone Electron Pairs
The VSEPR model treats lone electron pairs in a similar way to bonding electrons. In ammonia (NH3) for example, there are three hydrogen atoms and one lone pair of electrons surrounding the central nitrogen atom. Because there are four groups, ammonia has a tetrahedral shape but unlike methane, the angle between the hydrogen atoms is slightly smaller, 107.3°. This can be explained by theorising that lone electron pairs take up more space physically than bonding pairs. This is a reasonable theory: in a bond, the electron pair is distributed over two atoms whereas a lone pair is only located on one. Because it is bigger, the lone pair forces the other electron pairs together.

Testing this assumption with water provides further evidence. In water (H2O) there are two hydrogen atoms and two lone pairs, again making four groups in total. The electron pairs repel eachother into a tetrahedral shape. The angle between the hydrogen atoms is 104.5°, which is what we expect from our model. The two lone pairs both push the bonds closer together, giving a smaller angle than in ammonia. The scientific method has succeeded again!

Answer 2

The electron orbits the nucleus in a circular pattern. It exists in the lowest electron energy level (when unexcited of course)

Answer 3

well it only has one electron, it is not tetrahedral like H2O which is bent, soI would have to say linear, because it has not interacted with another molecule.

Answer 4

it's sperical, and the dimensions are about an angstrom

Answer 5

three dimensional eight-shaped

Answer 6

sp2

Answer 7

it is spherical