To calculate the bond order of a CO molecule using molecular orbital theory, we need to first determine the electronic configuration of the molecule. The atomic numbers of carbon C and oxygen O are 6 and 8, respectively. Therefore, the CO molecule has a total of 14 electrons.Now, let's fill the molecular orbitals following the aufbau principle and considering the energy levels of the molecular orbitals. The order of the energy levels is as follows: 1s < * 1s < 2s < * 2s < 2pz < 2px = 2py < * 2px = * 2py < * 2pz Filling the molecular orbitals with 14 electrons, we get: 1s ^2 < * 1s ^2 < 2s ^2 < * 2s ^2 < 2pz ^2 < 2px ^2 = 2py ^2 < * 2px ^1 = * 2py ^1 < * 2pz ^0Now, we can calculate the bond order using the formula:Bond order = number of electrons in bonding orbitals - number of electrons in antibonding orbitals / 2Bond order = 10 - 4 / 2 = 6 / 2 = 3The bond order of the CO molecule is 3, which indicates a strong triple bond between the carbon and oxygen atoms.To determine if the CO molecule is paramagnetic or diamagnetic, we need to check for unpaired electrons in its molecular orbitals. In the electronic configuration mentioned above, there are two unpaired electrons in the * 2px and * 2py orbitals.Since there are unpaired electrons, the CO molecule is paramagnetic.