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atomic structure and chemical families
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illashay
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Wed Dec 21, 2005 12:24 pm
atomic structure and chemical families
could you please explain to me why phosphorous forms a chloride which is a liquid of low boiling point?
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donnahardy2
- Former Expert
- Posts: 2671
- Joined: Mon Nov 14, 2005 12:45 pm
Why phosphorus reacts with halides
Hi,
Have you taken chemistry yet? I hope so.
The element phosphorus has 15 protons, 15 neutrons, and 15 electrons. In the ground state, the 15 electrons occupy the 1s2, 2s2, 2p6,3s2, and 3p3 orbitals. This leaves 3 open p orbitals that need to be filled to satisfy the octet rule so that the element will have an electron configuration similar to Argon, a noble gas. Chlorine gas has 17 protons, 17, neutrons, and 17 electrons, so it has one unshared electron in the outer electron orbitals and it normally exists as a molecule containing 2 chlorine atoms, with each atom sharing one electron with the other atom.
So these elements are fairly reactive and will readily combine with each other to form either phosphorus trichloride (a liquid) or phosphorus pentachloride (a solid) The phosphorus-chloride molecules are more stable compared to the individual elements. The polarities of the molecules are similar, so the bonds in the phosphorus trichloride are covalent.
If you haven't had chemistry yet, you should know that, in general, elements will react so that their outer electron shells are filled. With the smaller atoms, this usually means that there will be 8 outer electrons.
Is this question related to a science fair project? If you are planning to work with these chemicals, I want to make sure you are aware of the safety precautions you need to follow. Let us know if you need more information.
Donna Hardy
Have you taken chemistry yet? I hope so.
The element phosphorus has 15 protons, 15 neutrons, and 15 electrons. In the ground state, the 15 electrons occupy the 1s2, 2s2, 2p6,3s2, and 3p3 orbitals. This leaves 3 open p orbitals that need to be filled to satisfy the octet rule so that the element will have an electron configuration similar to Argon, a noble gas. Chlorine gas has 17 protons, 17, neutrons, and 17 electrons, so it has one unshared electron in the outer electron orbitals and it normally exists as a molecule containing 2 chlorine atoms, with each atom sharing one electron with the other atom.
So these elements are fairly reactive and will readily combine with each other to form either phosphorus trichloride (a liquid) or phosphorus pentachloride (a solid) The phosphorus-chloride molecules are more stable compared to the individual elements. The polarities of the molecules are similar, so the bonds in the phosphorus trichloride are covalent.
If you haven't had chemistry yet, you should know that, in general, elements will react so that their outer electron shells are filled. With the smaller atoms, this usually means that there will be 8 outer electrons.
Is this question related to a science fair project? If you are planning to work with these chemicals, I want to make sure you are aware of the safety precautions you need to follow. Let us know if you need more information.
Donna Hardy
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illashay
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Wed Dec 21, 2005 12:24 pm
thank you
thank you for the explaination. i have done chemistry before and am working on this topic which seems to be giving me a hard time because the people am working with are asking so many questions that i can not answer at a go and explaining it is hard. if you can you can give me tips on how to work with the topic of atomic sturcture and chemical families. i would appreciate that very much . i will make an effort of asking as many questions as i can because asking is not foolishness. thank you very much again.
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donnahardy2
- Former Expert
- Posts: 2671
- Joined: Mon Nov 14, 2005 12:45 pm
Atomic structure
Hi,
It's difficult to answer a general question completely in an e-mail message. All of the elements in a family have similar chemical properties because the outer electron configurations are identical. But each element is also unique because of its mass.
Do you have a specific question about a project? If you are working on a science fair project and people are asking you questions, it's because they are trying to help you think about what you are doing. They want you to understand what you are doing before you start the project. If you want to do a science fair project on this subject, you need to ask a specific question that can be answered with an experiment. So let us know what chemistry questions you can't answer, and we'll try to help you with an answer.
Donna Hardy
It's difficult to answer a general question completely in an e-mail message. All of the elements in a family have similar chemical properties because the outer electron configurations are identical. But each element is also unique because of its mass.
Do you have a specific question about a project? If you are working on a science fair project and people are asking you questions, it's because they are trying to help you think about what you are doing. They want you to understand what you are doing before you start the project. If you want to do a science fair project on this subject, you need to ask a specific question that can be answered with an experiment. So let us know what chemistry questions you can't answer, and we'll try to help you with an answer.
Donna Hardy