Molecular orbitals Computer model of a mixture of molecular orbitals The electrons in molecules can be arranged in different patterns giving rise to different energies These patterns or molecular orbitals can coexist within the rules of quantum mechanics This leads to the concept of mixing the molecular orbitals to model the overall behaviour of the molecule This mixing is seen here as the overlapping mix of colours and lines of potential energy surface This pattern is an example of caustics the patterns arising when overlap is observed This model was created as an artwork by Professor Eric Heller