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Why are antibonding orbitals higher in energy?

Answer 1

Antibonding orbitals are higher in energy because there is less electron density between the two nuclei.

Electrons are at their lowest energy when they are between the two positive nuclei.

It takes energy to pull an electron away from a nucleus. Thus, when the electrons in an antibonding orbital spend less time between the two nuclei, they are at a higher energy level.

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Answer 2

Owen Ambrose

Because atomic orbitals overlap and cause destructive interference, which lowers the electron density between nuclei and weakens the bond, antibonding orbitals have higher energy.

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Answer from HIX Tutor

When evaluating a one-sided limit, you need to be careful when a quantity is approaching zero since its sign is different depending on which way it is approaching zero from. Let us look at some examples.