Covalant structures

Question 1

What is the difference in strength between a covalant bond and an intermolecular force of attraction?

Answer 1

• Covalant bond = very strong
• Intermolecular force = very weak

Question 2

Why does the MP and BP increase as you go down group 7?

Answer 2

• Although intermolecular forces are weak individually, the more of them a substance has, the stronger the overall attraction will be
• Therefore, as you go down group 7, the molecules get bigger so have more intermolecular forces which require more energy to overcome

Question 3

Why do giant covalant structures have high MP and BP

Answer 3

• Very strong covalant bonds which require a lot of energy to overcome
• No weak intermolecular forces as only 1 structure

Question 4

What is a giant covalant structure?

Answer 4

• A huge number of non-metal atoms bonded together covalantly and organised in a regular repeating lattice