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Friday, 9 October

JEE Main 2026 · ChemistryMultiple choiceDiagram basedMediumDiagram reading

JEE Main 4 April 2026, Shift 2, Chemistry Q53

Question 53 of 75 in this shift, Chemistry question 3 of 25, Section A.

Which of the following pictorial diagram most correctly represents the π∗\pi^* (π\pi-antibonding) molecular orbital between two atoms if the internuclear axis is taken to be in the z-direction (z-axis arrow)?

The figure, in words

Options are orbital lobe drawings; internuclear axis is the z-direction (arrow shown).
  1. (1)[figure: one shaded lobe above and one unshaded lobe below, with two nuclei dots between them (lobes stacked along the vertical direction)]
  2. (2)[figure: four lobes, the two upper lobes shaded and the two lower lobes unshaded, arranged as a symmetric pair on either side of the axis]
  3. (3)[figure: four lobes in two pairs, shaded upper-left and lower-right, unshaded upper-right and lower-left, with a nodal plane through the axis]Official answer
  4. (4)[figure: four lobes in a row along the axis, alternately shaded and unshaded (shaded, unshaded, shaded, unshaded)]

Official answer

Option 3

NTA final key.

Chapter
Chemical Bonding and Molecular Structure
Topic
Molecular Orbital Theory
Idea tested
Nodal Planes in Molecular Orbitals

Same topic in other shifts

All Molecular Orbital Theory questions
  1. 2 Apr 2026, Shift 1 · Q53Given below are two statements : Statement (I) : The correct sequence of bond lengths in the following species is :…MediumTwo statements
  2. 9 Apr 2024, Shift 1 · Q82The total number of species from the following in which one unpaired electron is present, is ________.…MediumNumerical value
  3. 9 Apr 2024, Shift 2 · Q82Total number of electrons present in (π∗)(\pi^*) molecular orbitals of O2\mathrm{O_2}, O2+\mathrm{O_2^{+}} and O2−\mathrm{O_2^{-}} is ________.EasyNumerical value
  4. 29 Jan 2024, Shift 1 · Q82The number of species from the following which are paramagnetic and with bond order equal to one is ________.…MediumNumerical value
  5. 31 Jan 2024, Shift 1 · Q61The linear combination of atomic orbitals to form molecular orbitals takes place only when the combining atomic orbitals A. have the same…EasyOther
  6. 25 Jul 2022, Shift 1 · Q81Among the following species N2, N2+, N2−, N22−, O2, O2+, O2−, O22−\mathrm{N_2,\ N_2^{+},\ N_2^{-},\ N_2^{2-},\ O_2,\ O_2^{+},\ O_2^{-},\ O_2^{2-}} the number of species…MediumNumerical value

Question text from the official JEE Main paper published by NTA; answer from the final answer key. Chapter, topic and idea tags, difficulty and skill are Lumi’s. This question needs a figure we do not reproduce; it is described in words above. Lumi analyses 42 of the 174 JEE Main shifts held from 2017 to 2026.