 Carbon is the central atom of the molecule and a principal axis, the z-axis, is visualized as a single axis that goes through the center of carbon and the two oxygens atoms.For convention, blue atomic orbital lobes are positive phases, red atomic orbitals are negative phases, with respect to the wave function from the solution of the Schrödinger equation.In carbon dioxide the carbon 2s (−19.4 eV), carbon 2p (−10.7 eV), and oxygen 2p (−15.9 eV)) energies associated with the atomic orbitals are in proximity whereas the oxygen 2s energy (−32.4 eV) is different.