Polarizability

[Gillian Ward 1F]

What does it mean to say that highly distorted electrons are described as being highly polarizable?

[104904344]

Cations with highly polarizing power cause these highly distorted electrons which causes ionic bonds to take on a more covalent character.

[Arshiya]

I may be wrong, but from what I understand is this means that the more electrons that are distorted or unevenly distributed within the cloud, the greater the separation of charge. This separation of charge makes the molecule highly polarizable.

[Tyra Nguyen 4H]

Polarization is the process where an electron cloud of an anion is distorted due to a small, highly charged cation being close to a larger anion.

Cations with a small radius, thus being highly charged have high polarizing power, meaning that they can cause the largest distortions of a polarizable anion.

[haleyervin7]

When anions or cations are isoelectric, how do we determine which has higher polarizability/polarizing power?

[sarahartzell1A]

When it is highly polarizable, this means its electron cloud has a higher chance of being distorted, usually because of the size of the anion.