Practice Structure 2 Revision
Question no. 1
The following extract is taken from a very well-respected British
chemistry textbook for 16–19 year olds (specifically: G. Hill and
J. Holman, Chemistry in Context, 5th edn, Nelson, 2000). It
introduces the topic of ionic bonding using lithium oxide as an
example. Many other books use sodium chloride as the example,
set out in a similar way.
Read the extract carefully then answer the four questions that
appeared after the extract in the book:
1. What is the electron structure of: (a) the lithium ion; (b) the oxide
ion?
2. Which noble gas has an electron structure like that of Li+ ?
3. Which noble gas has an electron structure like that of O2– ?
4. Why is it that two lithium atoms react with only one oxygen
atom?
5.Comment on the size of the lithium atom compared with that of
the oxygen atom. (Support your answer by finding out the values for
their atomic radii.)
6.The lattice enthalpy change can be calculated theoretically and
obtained experimentally. For sodium chloride there is excellent
agreement between the two values obtained. However, the
experimental value for lithium oxide (Li2O) is –2906 kJ mol-1 ,
whereas the theoretical value is –2799 kJ mol-1 . Suggest a reason
why the two values are not the same.
Question no. 2
(a) Draw the Lewis structure of the molecule SF4 , indicating the
bonding pairs and lone pairs of electrons. (2 marks)
(b) State the electron domain geometry and molecular geometry of
the molecule and what is the bond angle of SF4 ? (3 marks)
(c) Explain if the molecule SF4 is polar or nonpolar and why. (2
marks)
(d) In SF4 , Give the electronic configuration of S and F. (1 mark)
Question no. 3
Explain why sulfur dioxide molecules, SO2, have a bent shape
whereas carbon dioxide molecules, CO2, are linear. ii. Explain
why C=O bonds are polar and yet the carbon dioxide molecule
is nonpolar.
Question no. 4
Trichloromethane, CHCl3 has a boiling point of 61.2oC
And Propanone, CH3COCH3, has a boiling point
of 56.2oC
Explain why a mixture of trichloromethane and propanone can have
a higher boiling point (measured under the same atmospheric
conditions) than either of its two pure
Components.
Question no. 5
Explain why changing the solvent (eluent) in either paper
chromatography or in thin layer chromatography often results in a
change in the RF values of particular components of a mixture.
Question no. 6
Question no. 7.
i. Draw the structure of the repeating unit of poly(chloroethene).
ii. Deduce the structure of the repeating unit of
poly(tetrafluoroethene).
iii. Poly(tetrafluoroethene) is also known as ‘Teflon’ or ‘non-stick’
and it is used to make artificial joints for humans as well as coat
frying pans. Suggest a reason why it is so unreactive.
Answers
Question no. 1
1. What is the electron structure of:
(a) The lithium ion (Li⁺):
● Lithium has an atomic number of 3. Its electron configuration
in the neutral state is 1s² 2s¹.
● When it loses one electron to form Li⁺, it has only two
electrons left: 1s².
(b) The oxide ion (O²⁻):
● Oxygen has an atomic number of 8. Its electron configuration
in the neutral state is 1s² 2s² 2p⁴.
● When it gains two electrons to form O²⁻, it has 10 electrons:
1s² 2s² 2p⁶.
2. Which noble gas has an electron structure like that of Li⁺?
● The Li⁺ ion has the electron structure 1s², which is the same as
helium (He).
3. Which noble gas has an electron structure like that of O²⁻?
● The O²⁻ ion has the electron structure 1s² 2s² 2p⁶, which is the
same as neon (Ne).
4. Why is it that two lithium atoms react with only one oxygen atom?
● Each lithium atom loses one electron to form Li⁺, and one
oxygen atom gains two electrons to form O²⁻.
● Oxygen needs two electrons to complete its octet, and each
lithium atom can only provide one electron.
● Therefore, two lithium atoms are needed to satisfy the electron
requirements of one oxygen atom, forming Li₂O.
5.The lithium atom should be shown larger than the oxygen atom.
Atomic radius of Li = 0.130 nm, atomic radius of O = 0.064 nm.
6.Sodium chloride has virtually 100% ionic character. Lithium
oxide, although mainly ionic, possesses some covalent character.
This is due to the greater charge density of the lithium ion compared
with the sodium ion.
Question no. 2
(a) Draw the Lewis structure of the molecule SF4 indicating the bonding pairs and
lone pairs of electrons. (2 marks)
● Steps to draw the Lewis structure:
○ Sulfur (S) has 6 valence electrons, and each fluorine (F)
has 7 valence electrons.
○ Total valence electrons = 6 (S) + 4 × 7 (F) = 34 electrons.
○ Place S as the central atom and connect it to 4 F atoms
with single bonds. Each bond uses 2 electrons.
○ Allocate the remaining 18 electrons as lone pairs on the F
atoms (6 electrons per F).
○ Place the last 2 electrons as a lone pair on S.
● Structure details:
○ Sulfur has 4 bonding pairs (shared with fluorine) and 1
lone pair.
○ Each fluorine has 3 lone pairs.
(b) State the electron domain geometry and molecular geometry of the molecule and
what is the bond angle of SF4? (3 marks)
1. Electron domain geometry: Trigonal bipyramidal (5 electron
domains: 4 bonding pairs and 1 lone pair).
2. Molecular geometry: See-saw (due to the lone pair on the
sulfur).
3. Bond angles:
○ Approx. 90° between equatorial and axial positions.
○ Approx. 120° between equatorial bonds.
(c) Explain if the molecule SF4SF_4 is polar or nonpolar and why. (2 marks)
● Polarity: SF4 is polar.
● Reason: The lone pair on sulfur creates an asymmetrical
charge distribution, so the dipoles from the S–F bonds do not
cancel out.
(d) In SF4, give the electronic configuration of S and F. (1 mark)
1. Sulfur (S): 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p4.
2. Fluorine (F): 1s2 2s2 2p5.
Question no. 3
i. The sulfur atom in SO2 contains three electron domains arranged
to give a trigonal planar shape. The two bonding electron domains
to the oxygen atoms give the molecule its bent shape with an angle
of approximately 120o . In carbon dioxide there are only two
electron domains (both bonding) around the central carbon atom so
the molecule is linear.
ii. O is more electronegative than C so the C=O bond is polar. The
two C=O bonds are at 180o to each other so the resultant polarity is
zero.
Question no. 4
Both trichloromethane and propanone are polar molecules and there
will be dipole-dipole interactions between the molecules in the pure
liquids. When they are mixed the δ+ hydrogen atom in
trichloromethane can form a type of hydrogen bond with the δ–
oxygen atom in propanone resulting in a stronger intermolecular
force – more energy will be required to break this attraction and
hence the higher boiling point.
Question no. 5
As the solvent (eluent) changes so does the polarity of the solvent so
the way in which the component is attracted to the mobile phase
(and hence distributes itself between the mobile and stationary
phases) also changes which affects the RF value.
Question no. 6
The melting point of a metal depends upon the way the atoms are
packed, the size of the cations and the charge carried by each cation.
The alkali metals are all packed the same way and each cation
carries a charge of +1. However as the atomic number increases the
size of the cation also increases so the charge density of the ions is
less. This means the attraction to electrons is less so less energy is
required to break the attractive forces holding the crystal structure
together.
Question no. 7
