order of ionic character
How do you tell whether SO2 or ClF3 is more ionic? In both of them the EN difference between the atoms isn't much, right?
11 Replies
@Dexter
Note for OP
+solved @user1 @user2... to close the thread when your doubt is solved. Mention the users who helped you solve the doubt. This will be added to their stats.may be by Fajan's rule then ig
dipole moment perhaps? i may be totally off here but that is the only way i see how.
@Emperor Someone check the oxidation state. in clf3 cl has an oxidation state of +3, in so2 s has an oxidation state of +4. more charge on cation means more covalent (fajan's rule)
fajan's rule is used for determining the covalent character of ionic compounds right? But SO2 and ClF3 are covalent compounds themselves, so how can Fajan's rule be applied here?
How do we calculate that? is it coz ClF3 is T-shaped while SO2 is bent?
nope... u can use it to compare the ionic and covalent natures of compounds as no compound is purely ionic or covalent and is kinda like a ratio... it's used to determine the ionic / covalent character of a chemical bond and isn't only restricted to ionic compounds (cuz we can identify the compd as ionic or cov by these rules and see which one's dominating).. this is actually a q from the ncert back exercise of chemical bonding
oh- but I thought it only applies to compounds which have a large electronegativity difference? Don't we use dipole moment to see whether compounds having atoms with similar EN have more polar nature?
byju's just uses the EN difference- but how do we know that lol
we good?
I have the exact EN values remembered according to Pauling Scale.
S = 2.56, O = 3.5, N = 3.1, F = 4.0
Ah shite i forgot en value of Cl
Ok it's 3
So yeah Cl = 3, F = 4
S = 2.56, O = 3.5
Approximate S to 2.6 if ya want
For SO2 EN difference = 3.5 - 2.6 = 0.9
For ClF3 EN difference = 4 - 3
= 1
Lets go for more accurate values:
SO2: 3.44 - 2.56 = 0.88
ClF3: 3.98 - 3 = 0.98
Source: ChatGPT
I mean the source of those EN values.
So you see, that minor difference of 0.1 makes ClF3 more ionic than SO2.