Carbocations, such as the methyl (CH₃⁺) and ethyl cations (CH₃CH₂⁺), are important high energy intermediates in organic reaction mechanisms. CH₃CH₂⁺ is more stable than CH₃⁺ by about 43 kcal/mol in the gas phase, and that stabilization is provided in three different ways by the methyl group (CH₃) attached to the C⁺ atom. One contribution is from inductive effects, because a methyl group, being electron-donating, will partially cancel the formal +1 charge. The second contribution is from hyperconjugation, because the filled C-H bonding orbitals will mix with the unfilled p orbital of the C⁺ atom. The third contribution is from polarizability effects, because the presence of a methyl group will increase the polarizability of the cation, which provides internal solvation of the +1 charge. All three of these effects take place simultaneously, and the aim of this study is to determine the contribution by each effect separately. To do so, four different valence bond theory (VBT) calculations were carried out for the CH₃CH₂⁺ ion, and differences in resulting energies were determined. In the first calculation, the electron densities for the CH₃ group and C-C bond of ethane (CH₃CH₃) were mapped onto the CH₃ group and C-C bond of CH₃CH₂⁺, and were frozen. In the second calculation, to determine the inductive effects, the electron density of the C-C bond was optimized. In the third calculation, to determine the effect from polarizability, the electron density of the CH₃ group was optimized. In the fourth calculation, to determine contribution by hyperconjugation, all orbitals were completely delocalized. Results show that the contribution by inductive effects is about 9 kcal/mol, the contribution by hyperconjugation is about 25 kcal/mol, and the contribution by polarizability effects is about 9 kcal/mol. Future studies will be carried out on the isopropyl cation, (CH₃)₂C⁺, and the tert-butyl cation, (CH₃)₃C⁺.