Fig. 8-4.  Molecular orbital energy level diagram for homonuclear diatomic molecules showing the correlation of the molecular orbitals with the atomic orbitals of the separated atoms. The schematic representation of the molecular orbitals is to illustrate their general forms and nodal properties (the nodes are indicated by dashed lines). Only one component of the degenerate 1p_u and 1p_g orbitals is shown. The second component is identical in form in each case but rotated 90° out of the plane. The ordering of the orbital energy levels shown in the figure holds generally for all homonuclear diatomic molecules with the exception of the levels for the 1p_u and 3s_g orbitals, whose relative order is reversed for the molecules after C₂.