Chapter 14: Group 14 Elements

Question 1

What makes tin and lead “poor” metals?

Answer 1

They do not conduct heat or electricity very well.

Question 2

what makes graphite such a good material for pencil lead?

Answer 2

It is composed of flat sheets, which are weakly bonded to one another, so they easily slide past each other and rub off on paper.

Question 3

What makes diamonds so hard?

Answer 3

Each carbon atom forms bonds with four other carbon atons in a tetrahedral crystal.
–This arrangement is extremely strong.

Question 4

Why is tin used to plate iron cans?

Answer 4

The tin plating prevents the iron can from oxidizing (rusting).

Question 5

Why are +2 and +4 the most common oxidation states of metals in this group?

Answer 5

Because the valence electron configuation is sns2np2, the atoms tend to lose either all four outer shell electrons (resulting in a charge of +4) or, because of the inert pair effect, they may lose only 2 electrons (resulting in a charge of +2),