Which mechanism explains the formation of stable diatomic oxygen (O₂) in planetary atmospheres during star formation?

💡 Explanation

Oxygen forms diatomic molecules via covalent sigma bonding because the overlap of p-orbitals generates a shared electron cloud with lower energy and increased stability. Therefore, sigma bonding results in O₂ formation, rather than pi bonding, charge transfer, or spin-orbit coupling, which involve different orbital interactions.

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