Question 9

What does atomic radius and ionic  radius really mean to you?

Answer

Atomic radius and ionic radius are the periodic properties which are directly or indirectly related to the electronic configuration of their atoms and shows gradation on moving down a group or along a period.

Atomic radius is defined as the distance from the centre of the nucleus to the outer most shell containing the electrons. It measures the size of an atom. It is of 3 types:

A) Covalent radius- It is the one half of the distance between the centres of the nuclei of two adjacent similar atoms joined to each other by single covalent bond.



Covalent radius = inter nuclear distance in the bonded atoms/ 2

B) Metallic radius- It is defined as half the distance between the centres of the nuclei of two adjacent atoms in the metallic crystal.

C) Van der waal’s radius- It is defined as one half of the inter nuclear distance between 2 similar adjacent atoms belonging to the two neighbouring molecules of the same substance in the solid state.

Ionic radius means the radius of an ion (cation or anion). It is defined as the distance from the centre of the nucleus of the ion upto which it exerts its influence on the electron cloud. The ionic radii can be calculated by measuring the distances between the cations and anions in ionic crystals.

Since a cation is formed by removing an electron from an atom, the cation has fewer electrons than the parent atom resulting in an increase in the effective nuclear charge. Thus, a cation is smaller than the parent atom. For example, the ionic radius of Na+ ion is 95 pm, whereas the atomic radius of Na atom is 186 pm. On the other hand, an anion is larger in size than its parent atom. This is because an anion has the same nuclear charge, but more electrons than the parent atom resulting in an increased repulsion among the electrons and a decrease in the effective nuclear charge. For example, the ionic radius of F– ion is 136 pm, whereas the atomic radius of F atom is 64 pm.

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