According to molecular orbital theory molecules are said to be stable if the number of electrons in bonding molecular orbitals is …………… the number of electrons in antibonding molecular orbitals.

Explanation

**Step-by-Step Solution:**

1. **Understanding Molecular Orbitals**: In molecular orbital theory, electrons occupy molecular orbitals that can be classified into bonding and antibonding orbitals. Bonding molecular orbitals are lower in energy, while antibonding molecular orbitals are higher in energy.

2. **Energy and Stability Relationship**: The stability of a molecule is related to the energy of the molecular orbitals. Specifically, the stability of a molecule increases when the energy of the bonding orbitals is lower compared to the energy of the antibonding orbitals.

3. **Counting Electrons**: To determine the stability of a molecule, we compare the number of electrons in bonding molecular orbitals to the number of electrons in antibonding molecular orbitals.

...