Review the key concepts, formulae, and examples before starting your quiz.
πConcepts
The bond (where ) is a polar covalent bond. Since halogens are more electronegative than carbon, the carbon atom carries a partial positive charge () and the halogen atom carries a partial negative charge ().
As the size of the halogen atom increases down the group (), the bond length increases. Consequently, the bond strength or bond dissociation enthalpy decreases from to .
The dipole moment () of haloalkanes generally decreases as the electronegativity of the halogen decreases. However, an anomaly exists: has a higher dipole moment than because the significantly longer bond length of outweighs the higher electronegativity of Fluorine.
Bond enthalpy order: . This is because as the size of the orbital of the halogen increases, the overlap with the orbital of carbon becomes less effective.
Bond length order: due to the increase in atomic radii of the halogens down the group.
πFormulae
π‘Examples
Problem 1:
Explain why the dipole moment of () is greater than that of ().
Solution:
Explanation:
Dipole moment is the product of charge () and bond length (). Although is more electronegative than , the bond length is significantly larger than the bond length. This increase in distance () more than compensates for the smaller charge () on compared to .
Problem 2:
Arrange the following bonds in decreasing order of their bond dissociation enthalpy: .
Solution:
Explanation:
As the size of the halogen atom increases, the bond length increases. Larger bonds are weaker and require less energy to break, thus bond dissociation enthalpy decreases as we go from Fluorine to Iodine.