atomic orbitals predict the position of an electron in an atom. molecular orbitals are created when atomic orbitals are brought together. a molecular orbital can give information about the electron configuration of a molecule. the electron configuration is the most likely position, and the energy of one (or one pair of) electron(s). mostly a mo is represented as a linear combination of atomic orbitals (the lcao-mo method), especially in approximate use. this means that chemists assume the chance of an electron being at any point in the molecule is the sum of the probabilities of the electron being there based on the individual atomic orbitals. lcao-mo is a simple model of bonding in molecules, and is important for studying molecular orbital theory.