Question

1. You have three elements, A, B, and C, with the following electronegativity values:
A = 3.3
B = 2.9
C = 0.7
• If any of the substances are ionic compounds, which element is the cation and which is the anion? Explain your answer

Answer 1

Most Ionic compounds have a medium electronegativity for both atoms and a medium change in electronegativity.

Answer 2

So, considering those things, what would help you the most in finding an ionic compound?

Answer 3

That's blatantly wrong for 2 reasons.

Answer 4

First of all, ionic compounds are characterized by very unequal sharing of electrons (even more so than polar covalent bonds). In this case, this means that the word "medium" is completely incorrect since an ionic compound would want something extreme or "very".

Answer 5

Second of all, in an ionic compound, one atom needs to be very electronegative, while the other atom needs to be electropositive. It doesn't take someone with very much capacity for critical thought to realize that in an ionic compound where one atom donates and the other atom receives an electron having both be electronegative does not work.

Answer 6

Sorry, there's a third. A medium change in electronegativity typically characterizes a polar covalent bond. Last I checked we were going over \(\it{ionic}\) compounds.