along the x- and y-axes, where the lone-pair electrons are positioned.Thus, an electron residing in this orbital would experience a greater repulsion from the ligands than an electron would in, say, the dxy orbital. For this reason. the energy of the dx2-dy2 orbital is increased relative to the dxy, dyz, and dxz orbitals. the dz2 orbital is energy is also greater. because its lobes are pointed at the ligands along the z-axis.