Editing Openai/69227557-0850-8003-9c19-8f26825e337d (section)

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* Electrons are in individualized orbitals.
* Each atom has incomplete valence shells and therefore higher potential energy because: - Electrons aren’t in optimal low-energy molecular orbitals. - Attractive forces between nuclei and neighboring electrons don’t yet exist. - Repulsive forces aren’t yet minimized through spatial reorganization.

This state is high-energy, not because it's polar, but because it's poorly optimized electrostatically and quantum-mechanically.

====== Electrons reorganize into molecular orbitals, where: ======
* Bonding orbitals increase electron density between nuclei, enhancing attractive forces (lower energy).
* Electrons occupy lower-energy quantum states than they could in isolated atomic orbitals.
* Repulsions (electron–electron and nucleus–nucleus) are reduced by spatial separation and Pauli-allowed orbital alignment.

This reconfiguration lowers potential energy.

====== The system now has: ======
* Lower total potential energy.
* Electrons in lower-energy orbital states (σ or π bonds).
* Reduced electrostatic repulsion and increased attractive stabilization.

This lower energy state corresponds to:
* “Filled valence shells”
* Lower chemical potential
* Higher thermodynamic stability

But those concepts are heuristics—not the underlying physical mechanism.