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The graphs above show the melting and boiling points for the period
2 and period 3 elements.
Crossing a period
Moving from one element to the next, electrons are being added to
the same energy level and protons are being added to the nucleus.
The electrons in the outer energy level are therefore attracted more
strongly and pulled closer to the nucleus.
Descending a group
Moving from one element to the next, the number of occupied energy
levels is increasing.
Ionisation energy
The first ionisation energy is the energy required to remove one mole
of electrons from one mole of gaseous atoms.
Na(g) Na+(g) + e-
Descending a group
The attraction of the nucleus for the electron becomes less and it
becomes easier to pull it away.
Crossing a period
The electrons in the outer energy levels will be more tightly held and
more difficult to remove.
Electronegativity
Atoms of different elements have different attractions for bonding
electrons.
Patterns in electronegativity
Electronegativity values:
increase from left to right across a period in the Periodic Table
decrease on descending a group
Be aware!
Electronegativity values can be found in the SQA data book (page
10 ).
Electronegativity values can be useful in predicting which type of
bonding is most likely between two elements (see Bonding, structure
and properties).
Types of bonding
The different forms of bonding considered here are:
metallic
pure covalent
polar covalent
ionic
Metallic bonding
The atom with the higher electronegativity will have a greater share of
the electrons. This will result in the atom having a slight negative
charge compared to the other atom which will have a slight positive
charge.
Ionic bonding
Ionic bonding is the electrostatic force of attraction between positively
and negatively charged ions.
Be aware!
Covalent, polar covalent and ionic bonding can be considered as
forming a spectrum. As the difference in electronegativity increases
the bonds become more polar then ionic.
They are only significant in atoms and molecules which have no other
types of intermolecular forces of attraction, for example, discrete non-
polar molecules and the Group 0 elements.
The strength of Van der Waals' forces is related to the size of atoms
and molecules. The bigger the atom or molecule the bigger the Van
der Waals' force.
Hydrogen bonding
Hydrogen bonds are permanent dipole-permanent dipole interactions.
Be aware!
A hydrogen bond is stronger than other forms of permanent dipole-
permanent dipole interactions but weaker than a covalent bond.
Structures
The different types of structure considered here are:
metallic
covalent molecular
covalent network
ionic
monatomic
Metallic structure
Ionic structure
Monatomic structure
Properties
The melting points, boiling points, solubility and
hardness/softness of elements and compounds are related to their
bonding and structures.
The melting points of polar substances are higher than the melting
points of non-polar substances with similar sizes.