Question

Which Alkali metal ion has the maximum polarizing power. Explain.

Answer 1

The ability of cation to distort an anion is known as its polarization power and the tendency of an anion to become polarized by the cation is known as its polarizability.

The higher the polarizing power of a cation, the more covalent will be its compounds.

Lithium ion (Li⁺) has the maximum polarizing power.

The reason is that lithium atom is very small and therefore the ratio of charge per unit area is very high.

The high positive charge density can attract the electron cloud on the hallide ion towards the lithium atom