--%>

Describe characteristics of halides and oxides.

Halides characteristics

(i) These trihalides are mainly covalent with the exception of BiF3 which is ionic.

(ii) The ionic character of trihalides increases in going down the group.

(iii) Like hydrides, these trihalides have pyramidal structure.

(iv) These trihalides except NX3 can be easily hydrolysed by water.

The inability of trihalides of N to hydrolyse is attributed to the non-availability of vacant d-orbitals in nitrogen.

(v) The trihalides of P, As, Sb (especially fluorides and chlorides) act as Lewis acids and combine with Lewis bases

PF3 + F2  1973_halides and oxides.png  PF5

SbF3 + 2F-  1973_halides and oxides.png   [SbF5]
2-

(vi) The pentahalides in general, have less thermal stability as compared to trihalides.

(vii) All the pentahalides act as Lewis acids. It is because the central atom can easily accept the halide ions due to presence of vacant d-orbital and can extend their co-ordination number.

(viii) PCl5 exists as molecule in gaseous state but in solid state it exists as [PCl4]+[PCl6]- and is ionic in nature. PBr5PI5 also exists in the ionic form in solid state.

Reactivity towards oxygen: the elements of this group combine with oxygen directly or indirectly to form a large number of different types of oxides.

Nature of oxides

All the oxides of nitrogen except NO and N2O and phosphorus are strongly acidic: oxides of arsenic are weakly acidic; oxides of antimony are amphoteric and those of bismuth are weakly basic.

Reason: the change in character from acidic to basic can be explained on the basis of the size of atoms. As the size of nitrogen atom is small and it has a strong positive field, it interacts with water more strongly pulling the electron pair between O - H bond and thus release of H+ ions.

However, this tendency diminishes with the increase in size and therefore decreases the acidic character or conversely increases the basic character.

As far as the stability of the oxides is connected it is found that oxides having elements in the higher oxidation state become less stable as we move down to group. This is because of the import pair effect.

   Related Questions in Chemistry

  • Q : Explain physical properties of

    . Boiling pointsThe boiling points of monohalogen derivatives of benzene, which are all liquids, follow the orderIodo > Bromo > ChloroThe boiling points of isomeric dihalobe

  • Q : Molecular basis of third law. The

    The molecular, or statistical, basis of the third law can be seen by investigating S = k in W.The molecular deductions of the preceding sections have led to the same conclusions as that stated in the third law of thermodynamics, namely, that a value can be

  • Q : How to calculate solutions molar

    The contribution of an electrolyte, or an ion electrolyte, is reported as the molar of a conductance. The definition of the molar conductance is based on the following conductivity cell in which the electrodes are 1 m apart and of sufficient area that th

  • Q : Finding Molarity of final mixture Can

    Can someone help me in finding out the right answer. 25ml of 3.0 MHNO3 are mixed with 75ml of 4.0 MHNO3. If the volumes are adding up the molarnity of the final mixture would be: (a) 3.25M (b) 4.0M (c) 3.75M (d) 3.50M

  • Q : Maximum vapour pressure Provide

    Provide solution of this question. Which solution will show the maximum vapour pressure at 300 K: (a)1MC12H22O11 (b)1M CH3 COOH (c) 1MNacl2 (d)1MNACl

  • Q : Relationship between Pressure and

    The pressure-temperature relation for solid-vapor or liquid vapor equilibrium is expressed by the Clausis-Clapeyron equation.We now obtain an expression for the pressure-temperature dependence of the state of equilibrium between two phases. To be specific,

  • Q : Explain Polyatomic Vibrational Spectra

    Polyatomic molecules vibrate in a number of ways, and some of these vibrations can be studied by infrared absorption spectroscopy and some by Raman spectroscopy. The characters of transformation matrices for all 3n translation rotation vibration motio

  • Q : Distribution law Help me to go through

    Help me to go through this problem. The distribution law is applied for the distribution of basic acid between : (a) Water and ethyl alcohol (b) Water and amyl alcohol (c) Water and sulphuric acid (d) Water and liquor ammonia

  • Q : Define Virial Equation The constant of

    The constant of vander Waal's equation can be related to the coefficients of the virial equation.  Vander Waal's equation provides a good overall description of the real gas PVT behaviour. Now let us

  • Q : PH of an Alkyl Halide Briefly state the

    Briefly state the pH of an Alkyl Halide?