Covalent character: BeCl2 Vs MgCl2
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Covalent character: BeCl2 Vs MgCl2
Question: Which compound has the most covalent character: BeCl2 or MgCl2?
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Re: Covalent character: BeCl2 Vs MgCl2
Answer: BeCl2. This is due to the electronegativities of the atoms involved in the bond. We know that a bond is of "high covalent character" when electronegativities are most similar in value. Diatomics for instance are very highly covalent since it is a bond with two atoms of the same element (which then have the same electronegativity). In this case, Cl has a value of 3.16, while Be, Mg, and Ca, are 1.57, 1.31, and 1.00 respectively. From this it is obvious that Be is the closest to Chlorine's electronegativity value and thus this bond has the most covalent character.
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Re: Covalent character: BeCl2 Vs MgCl2
Smaller cations should have more polarizability because it exerts a stronger attraction force to nearby electrons.
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Re: Covalent character: BeCl2 Vs MgCl2
BeCl2. As stated, the molecule with smaller electronegativity difference has more covalent character. A larger difference becomes more ionic.
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Re: Covalent character: BeCl2 Vs MgCl2
BeCl2 has more covalent character due to the fact that the electronegativity difference is smaller than MgCl2.
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