11. BONDING THEORIES Flashcards
1
Q
- What is the Valence Bond Theory?
A
- it is the theory that states that:
- chemical bonds are formed by the overlap of atomic
orbitals on adjacent atoms - the atoms are brought very close together
- and are then overlapped
2
Q
- What is the Molecular Orbital Theory?
A
- it is the theory that states:
- chemical bonds are formed by placing electrons in
molecular orbitals - analogues of atomic orbitals for molecules
- it is the joining of atomic orbitals
- chemical bonds are formed by placing electrons in
ATOMIC ORBITALS:
- the way that the electron cloud is distributed around the
nucleus
3
Q
- Explain the Valence bond theory of joining H2 ?
A
- one H atom has a spin up electron
- the other has a spin down electron
- the two atoms overlap due to the attractive charges pulling them together
- there are electrons present in the shared region of the two overlapping atoms
- they bond covalently
- this produces an H2 molecule
NB: an unpaired electron is required for a chemical bond to form
4
Q
- What does a bigger overlap of the two atoms result in?
A
- it results in a stronger bond between the two atoms
5
Q
- What happens if there are two unpaired, spin up electrons in the atoms that want to chemically bond?
A
- as these two atoms move closer to each other
- the spin up electron of the one atom will have to change its direction
- it will turn into a spin down electron
- the two can now co-exist in the same shared region
6
Q
- Does Methane have hybrid (blended) atomic orbitals?
A
- it does
7
Q
- Explain how Carbon can bond with hydrogen to form Methane?
A
- According to the Valence Bond theory, unpaired electrons in the two orbitals that will overlap are needed to form a covalent bond
- Carbon in its ground has two unpaired spin up electrons
- this means that it can form only two covalent bonds
- to bond with H4, it needs 4 unpaired electrons
- we can promote a 2s electron into the empty 2p orbital
- this will require us to use energy
- this produces 4 unpaired electrons
8
Q
- What is Promotion?
A
- it is when we move an electron out of a lower energy orbital into a higher energy orbital
- we do this to produce unpaired electrons that are ready to form covalent bonds
9
Q
- Are all the orbitals in CH4 the same after we have promoted an electron?
A
- no, they are not
- there is one 2s electron and three 2p electrons
- the 2s orbital is smaller
- the bonds are not all identical
- we need to blend the one 2s orbital with the three 2p orbitals
- this would produce a sp3 orbital
10
Q
- What process makes the bonds/orbitals identical?
A
- hybridization
- this is also known as blending
- we blend together the electron density of different atomic orbitals
- this forms an equal number of hybrid orbitals
11
Q
- What shape is the 2p orbital?
A
-it is a dumbbell shape
- it is equal on both ends
12
Q
- What shape is the sp3 orbital (the hybrid orbital)?
A
- it is a tetrahedral shape
- it has one big lobe and one small lobe
- the big lobe is involved in the overlapping
- and the formation of the covalent bond
13
Q
- Which is bigger, the big lobe in the sp3 orbital or in the 2p orbital?
A
- the big lobe of an sp3 orbital is bigger in size
- it is bigger than the lobe of an atomic 2p orbital
14
Q
- What does a bigger orbital size lead to?
A
- it leads to a greater overlap
- and a formation of a stronger bond
15
Q
- What is released when a chemical bond is formed?
A
- energy is released