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Question

Which has maximum covalent character?
1. NaCl 2.SiCl4 3.AlCl3 4.MgCl2

Isn't SiCl4 the answer? Because covalent character is inversely proportional to polarisation and polarisation is inversely proportional to size of the atom. Since out if these, Si is the largest in is have the least polarisation and thus will result in the highest covalent character.

is this correct? If not, why not?

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Solution

Answer:- SiCl4SiCl4

Explanation:-

When two ions approach each other closely,the positively charged cation attracts the outermost electrons of anion & repels its nucleus. This causes distortion of anion & the electron density gets drifted towards the cation, this phenomenon is known as polarization. Ionic compounds develop partial covalent character & exhibit many properties which are characteristic of covalent bond due to polarization of electron cloud.

Polarization depends upon following characters:

Size of ions: Small cation & large anion favours more polarization

Charge on ions: Greater the charge on cation, greater is the extent of polarization.

Size of ion decreases as follows: Na+>Mg2+>Al3+>Si4+& Cl−ion has same size in all these compounds, hence Si4+will have greater polarization. Hence SiCl4will show maximum covalent character.


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