How to Find out the Order of the Ionic Radius – Part 1

Ionic radius is the radius of a monatomic ion in an ionic crystal structure.


Although neither atoms nor ions have sharp boundaries, they are treated as if they were hard spheres with radii s.t. the sum of ionic radii of the cation and anion gives the distance between the ions in a crystal lattice.

Factors affecting anionic radius (r─):

  1. # of shells (principal quantum number, n): n ↑ => r─ ↑ (going down the group)
  2. Nuclear charge Z (# of protons): Z ↑ => r─ ↓ (across the period, left to right)
  3. Negative charge (e─): e─ ↑ => r─ ↑ (∵ repulsion => Cloud expansion)

Therefore, the order of the ionic radius is not necessarily that of the atomic radius.

Question:

What is the decreasing order of the ionic radius for the following species?

I─, Se2─, Br─, O2─, F─

Solution:



Click/tap to enlarge the image

The order may depend on specific reported crystal radii data sets.

Irregularity in the ionic radii❓ Let Chemaficionado know in the comments below or at mychemistryhomework@gmail.com❗

References:

‌‌(1)    Ncert. Chemistry : Textbook for Class XI - Part.I; National Council Of Educational Research And Training: New Delhi.

(2)    Brown, C.; Ford, M. Higher Level Chemistry, 2nd ed.; Pearson Education: Harlow, Essex, 2014.

(3)    Wikipedia Contributors. Ionic Radius; Wikimedia Foundation, 2019. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ionic_radius.

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