Hello! I was completing the text book problems and got a bit confused when asked to arrange cations from increasing polarizing power and anions from increasing polarizability. I mixed the two up at first. What is the difference between polarizing power and polarizability?
Thank you!
Polarizing Power vs Polarizability
Moderators: Chem_Mod, Chem_Admin
-
- Posts: 102
- Joined: Wed Sep 30, 2020 9:33 pm
- Been upvoted: 3 times
Re: Polarizing Power vs Polarizability
Hi! Polarizing power refers to small, highly charged cations (I like to remember it like they're tiny but mighty). Polarizability refers to bigger atoms with lots of electrons that are easily distorted.
-
- Posts: 102
- Joined: Wed Sep 30, 2020 9:37 pm
- Been upvoted: 1 time
Re: Polarizing Power vs Polarizability
It's fundamentally the same idea (how the charge on one atom affects the charge on another) just different terms because the atoms have opposite charges. For cations with a positive charge, their ability to distort an anion and skew the electron cloud is known as their polarization power. The tendency of the anion to become polarized by the cation is the same concept but referred to as polarizability.
-
- Posts: 152
- Joined: Wed Sep 30, 2020 9:50 pm
- Been upvoted: 1 time
Re: Polarizing Power vs Polarizability
Hi! Polarizing power is the ability of the cation to pull (distort) the electrons of the anion into the shared/bonding region. Polarizability refers to the ability of the anion's electrons to be distorted and pulled into the shared/bonding region. Hope this helps! Small, highly charged cations have high polarizing power, while large anions are highly polarizable.
-
- Posts: 100
- Joined: Wed Sep 30, 2020 9:51 pm
Re: Polarizing Power vs Polarizability
I like to think of 'Polarizing power' as the ability to make things polar, being small cations. 'Polarizability' being the ability to become polarized, being large anions.
Return to “Polarisability of Anions, The Polarizing Power of Cations”
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 7 guests