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Atomic and Molecular Properties

  • Page ID
    1493
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    The atomic and molecular properties are the intrinsic features associated with the system at the atomic and sub-atomic level.

    • Atomic and Ionic Radius
      This page explains the various measures of atomic radius, and then looks at the way it varies around the Periodic Table - across periods and down groups. It assumes that you understand electronic structures for simple atoms written in s, p, d notation.
    • Atomic Radii
      Atomic radii is useful for determining many aspects of chemistry such as various physical and chemical properties. The periodic table greatly assists in determining atomic radius and presents a number of trends.
    • Dipole Moments
      Dipole moments occur when there is a separation of charge. They can occur between two ions in an ionic bond or between atoms in a covalent bond; dipole moments arise from differences in electronegativity. The larger the difference in electronegativity, the larger the dipole moment. The distance between the charge separation is also a deciding factor into the size of the dipole moment. The dipole moment is a measure of the polarity of the molecule.
    • Electronegativity
      Electronegativity is a measure of the tendency of an atom to attract a bonding pair of electrons. The Pauling scale is the most commonly used. Fluorine (the most electronegative element) is assigned a value of 4.0, and values range down to cesium and francium which are the least electronegative at 0.7.
    • Electron Affinity
      Electron affinity is defined as the change in energy (in kJ/mole) of a neutral atom (in the gaseous phase) when an electron is added to the atom to form a negative ion. In other words, the neutral atom's likelihood of gaining an electron.
    • Formal Charges
      Knowing the formal charges on specific atoms in a molecule is an important step in keeping tract of the electrons and determine the chemical reactivity of the molecule. Formal charges can be calculated mathematically, but they can also be determined by intuition. The instinctive method is faster but requires more skill and knowledge of common structures.
    • Intermolecular Forces
      Intermolecular forces are the attractive or repulsive forces between molecules. They are separated into two groups; short range and long range forces. Short range forces happen when the centers of the molecules are separated by three angstroms (10-8 cm) or less. Short range forces tend to be repulsive, where the long range forces that act outside the three angstroms range are attractive. Long range forces are also known as Van der Waals forces. They are responsible for surface tension, friction,
    • Ionization Energy
      Ionization energy is the quantity of energy that an isolated, gaseous atom in the ground electronic state must absorb to discharge an electron, resulting in a cation.
    • Lewis Structures
      A Lewis Structure is a very simplified representation of the valence shell electrons in a molecule. It is used to show how the electrons are arranged around individual atoms in a molecule. Electrons are shown as "dots" or for bonding electrons as a line between the two atoms. The goal is to obtain the "best" electron configuration, i.e. the octet rule and formal charges need to be satisfied.
    • Magnetic Properties
      Anything that is magnetic, like a bar magnet or a loop of electric current, has a magnetic moment. A magnetic moment is a vector quantity, with a magnitude and a direction. An electron has an electron magnetic dipole moment, generated by the electron's intrinsic spin property, making it an electric charge in motion. There are many different magnetic forms: including paramagnetism, and diamagnetism, ferromagnetism, and anti-ferromagnetism. Only paramagnetism, and diamagnetism are discussed here.
    • Molecular Polarity
      Polarity is a physical property of compounds which relates other physical properties such as melting and boiling points, solubility, and intermolecular interactions between molecules. For the most part, there is a direct correlation between the polarity of a molecule and number and types of polar or non-polar covalent bonds which are present. In a few cases, a molecule may have polar bonds, but in a symmetrical arrangement which then gives rise to a non-polar molecule such as carbon dioxide.
    • Polarizability
      Having now revised the basics of trends across and down the Periodic Table, we can use the concepts of Effective Nuclear Charge and Electronegativity to discuss the factors that contribute to the types of bonds formed between elements.

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    Atomic and Molecular Properties is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

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