In molecular orbital theory, the main alternative to valence bond theory, the molecular orbitals (MOs) are approximated as sums of all the atomic orbitals (AOs) on all the atoms; there are as many MOs as AOs. Each AO has a weighting coefficient c that indicates the AOs contribution to a particular MO. For example, in benzene, the MO model gives us 6 π MOs which are combinations of the 2p AOs on each of the 6 C atoms. Thus, each π MO is delocalized over the whole benzene molecule and any electron occupying' an MO will be delocalized over the whole molecule. This MO interpretation has inspired the picture of the benzene ring as a hexagon with a circle inside. When describing benzene, the VB concept of localized σ bonds and the MO concept of delocalized π orbitals are frequently combined in elementary chemistry courses.
The contributing structures in the VB model are particularly useful in predicting the effect of substituents on π systems such as benzene. They lead to the models of contributing structures for an electron-withdrawing group and electron-releasing group on benzene. The utility of MO theory is that a quantitative indication of the charge from the π system on an atom can be obtained from the squares of the weighting coefficient c on atom C. Charge q ≈ c. The reason for squaring the coefficient is that if an electron is described by an AO, then the square of the AO gives the electron density. The AOs are adjusted (normalized) so that AO = 1, and q ≈ (cAO) ≈ c. In benzene, q = 1 on each C atom. With an electron-withdrawing group q  > 1 for an electron-releasing group.