Q2. (8 marks total) Types of atomic bonding.

Describe both which type(s) of bonding are

present in the following materials and how that type of bonding affects the properties of that
material. Consider the electronegativity differences between elements where applicable to
justify your comments.

(a) H2O in its liquid form. Why does water expand when it freezes? (2 marks)

When two water molecules approach each other, the partially positive hydrogen atoms of
one water molecule can closely approach the partially negative oxygen atom of the other.
As they get closer together, the electrostatic attraction between them gets even stronger.
This extra-strong attraction between molecules that have hydrogen atoms bonded to
electron-hungry atoms like oxygen is called hydrogen bonding.

When water is in its liquid state, the molecules move quickly enough that hydrogen bonds
between adjacent molecules quickly break. Consequently, there is no large-scale structure
to the molecules in liquid water. But take away some thermal energy, and the water
molecules slow down. Hydrogen bonds form between molecules and snap them into place,
with a particular geometry. And this geometry takes up more space, because there are
empty spaces between water molecules.

So that’s why water expands when it freezes. Hydrogen bonds between molecules cause the
molecules to get into a 3D shape that is less efficiently packed than the molecules in liquid
water.

(B)Mercury. Comment on the strength of interatomic bonding in mercury (Hint:

why is it a liquid at room temperature)?
the state of an element is governed by many factors which also includes the force of
attraction between the atoms and the strength of intermolecular bonding. Mercury is metal
still it is liquid at room temperature because of the weak metallic bonding between the
atoms of mercury which requires minimum energy to break and hence it is easily liquified.
(c) Polystyrene (2 marks)

Polystyrene is consist of covalent bonds. Polystyrene (C8H8) is a hard, brilliantly

transparent, stiff resin. It is produced by the polymerization of styrene and is the most widely used
plastic. At room temperature, the thermoplastic polymer is a solid but when heated above 100 °C it
flows. It becomes rigid again when it cools down. Polystyrene is insoluble in water. polystyrene
contains only carbon hydrogen bonds, it is non-polar and can dissolve only in non-polar solvents.

(d) Copper oxide (CuO) (2 marks)

copper is a transition metal, which are the metals that are between the alkaline earth metals and
the metalloids. When a copper atom loses one electron it becomes the copper ion Cu+1. An
oxygen atom wants to gain two electrons to fill its outer electron shell. Since it gains two
negatively charged particles it has the formula O-2. Oppositely charged particles attract each
other. Think of two magnets with their north and south ends sticking together. The attraction
between these oppositely charged ions is called an ionic bond. All ionic compounds have to be
electrically neutral. This means a specific ratio of each ion is required to form the neutral
compound. Since each copper ion has a +1 charge and each oxygen ion has a -2 charge, we
need two copper(I) ions to cancel out one oxygen ion
2Cu+1 + O-2 → Cu2 O
Q3. (3 marks total) Polymer chemistry. Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is a type of silicone that is often
used in biotechnology applications. One of the interesting aspects of PDMS is that Si is the element
forming its backbone as opposed to C. Draw the structure of a chain of PDMS and indicate its mer
unit. Calculate the molecular weight of a PDMS chain with n=300 mer units in AMU.
Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), also known as dimethylpolysiloxane or dimethicone, belongs to a
group of polymeric organosilicon compounds that are commonly referred to as silicones. The
chemical formula  for PDMS is CH3[Si(CH3)2O]nSi(CH3)3, where n is the number of
repeating monomer [SiO(CH3)2] units.