Question

Which factors will result in a stronger ionic bond overall?a. larger ions b. similarity of ionic sizes c. greater absolute charges d. smaller ions

Answer 1

Answer:

c. greater absolute charges

d. smaller ions

Explanation:

An ionic bond is an electrostatic force that holds ions together in an ionic compound. The overall stability of a solid ionic compound depends on the interactions of all the ions and not merely on the interaction of a single cation with a single anion. A quantitative measure of the stability of any ionic solid is its lattice energy, defined as the energy required to completely separate one mole of a solid ionic compound into gaseous ions.

Lattice energy cannot be measured directly. However, if we know the structure and composition of an ionic compound, we can calculate the compound’s lattice energy by using Coulomb’s law, which states that the potential energy (E) between two ions is directly proportional to the product of their charges and inversely proportional to the distance of separation between them. For a single Li⁺ ion and a single F⁻ ion separated by distance r, the potential energy of the system is given by:

$E = k × (Q Li⁺ Q F⁻) ÷ r$

where QLi⁺and QF⁻ are the charges on the Li⁺ and F⁻ ions and k is the proportionality  constant. From this equation we can see that the greater the absolute charges and the smaller the ions (smaller r) the greater the potential energy E, which means that the ionic bond will be stronger.