Polarizing Power vs Polarizability

[cadytran1K]

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!

[Marylyn Makar 1B]

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.

[Lucy_Balish_3G]

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.

[Kelly Tran 1J]

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.

[Tanner Bartyczak 1K]

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.