SALC Ammonia – Atomic Orbitals

We can see that the s and p_z orbitals are totally symmetric to the operations of the C_3v point group as they remain unchanged after the operation. Hence they have A₁ symmetry.

The p_x and p_y however do change upon application of C_3v operations. They are affected equally and hence are degenerate. They have E symmetry, shown above.

SALC – Ammonia Molecular Orbitals

Orbital-orbital overlap and SALC Homepage