IGCSE/GCSE/O & A Level/IB/University Student Forum

Qualification => Subject Doubts => GCE AS & A2 Level => Sciences => Topic started by: ruby92 on September 29, 2010, 05:52:04 pm

Title: CIE A2 chemistry doubts
Post by: ruby92 on September 29, 2010, 05:52:04 pm
Quote:Tin and lead have mettalic bonding which is easier to breakdown with heat energy than covanlent bonding.
this is from As and A level chemistry, brian ratcliff among other authors.
my question is why/how are mettalic bonds easier to break down than covalent bonds? shouldnt it be the other way around.seeing as how the positive ions in a metal atom are held togather by electrostatic forces between them and the sea of mobile electrons?
Title: Re: CIE A2 chemistry doubts
Post by: Twinkle Charms on September 29, 2010, 05:55:01 pm
Quote:Tin and lead have mettalic bonding which is easier to breakdown with heat energy than covanlent bonding.
this is from As and A level chemistry, brian ratcliff among other authors.
my question is why/how are mettalic bonds easier to break down than covalent bonds? shouldnt it be the other way around.seeing as how the positive ions in a metal atom are held togather by electrostatic forces between them and the sea of mobile electrons?
hi ruby,
it will be great if you delete this topic n copy-paste ur ques. in CIE chemistry doubts. , solely made for this purpose, others may be benefited too (=
Title: Re: CIE A2 chemistry doubts
Post by: Deadly_king on September 30, 2010, 05:42:19 am
Does not really matter.......Twinkle Charms :)
Quote:Tin and lead have mettalic bonding which is easier to breakdown with heat energy than covanlent bonding.
this is from As and A level chemistry, brian ratcliff among other authors.
my question is why/how are mettalic bonds easier to break down than covalent bonds? shouldnt it be the other way around.seeing as how the positive ions in a metal atom are held togather by electrostatic forces between them and the sea of mobile electrons?

NOTE : You do not need to know the reason according to the syllabus. You just need to know the trends. However I had once been curious myself about this :P But do not get too much engrossed by this as it may confuse you throughout your studies.

Anyway there is no such thing about pure ionic or pure metallic bondings. It's more appropriate to say that Tin and Lead form ionic bonds with minimal covalent characteristics. It's a very complex matter and I would advice not to lose your time trying to understand that.

But if you really want to know, here is a link which might be helpful :
http://www.diffen.com/difference/Covalent_Bonds_vs_Ionic_Bonds
Title: Re: CIE A2 chemistry doubts
Post by: ruby92 on October 01, 2010, 12:43:27 pm
The link you gave me is about ionic and covalent.
i was asking about metallic and covalent.
Title: Re: CIE A2 chemistry doubts
Post by: Deadly_king on October 02, 2010, 05:04:56 am
The link you gave me is about ionic and covalent.
i was asking about metallic and covalent.

Yupz.......I know. It seems you really want to know.

But first you need to know more about covalent bonds. Normally there are two forms of covalent bondings namely simple molecular covalent bondings and giant covalent bondings.

Simple molecular structures consisting of bonds which are quite weak. However giant covalent structures consist of huge number of covalent bonds which together require loads of energy to break these bonds. This causes a dramatic rise in the strength of the covalent bonds.

examples of simple molecules : Carbon dioxide
Example of giant molecules : diamond

Hence metallic bonds are stronger than covalent bonds in simple molecular structure but weaker than those in giant covalent structures.



Title: Re: CIE A2 chemistry doubts
Post by: ruby92 on October 03, 2010, 04:46:27 pm
haha yes.i was sort of obsessed with it :P
THAK YOU :)
i shall not dwell on it any further :)
Title: Re: CIE A2 chemistry doubts
Post by: elemis on October 03, 2010, 04:53:43 pm
haha yes.i was sort of obsessed with it :P
THAK YOU :)
i shall not dwell on it any further :)

That kind of attitude will take you far in life.
Title: Re: CIE A2 chemistry doubts
Post by: Deadly_king on October 04, 2010, 05:12:43 am
That kind of attitude will take you far in life.

Haha.....good advice br0 :)

Indeed I was once obsessed with that too :P
Title: Re: CIE A2 chemistry doubts
Post by: ruby92 on October 04, 2010, 03:39:24 pm
hahaha :)