NaCl is an ionic compound but LiCl has some covalent character, explain.

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1 Answers

  • Li+ ion has very small size and therefore, the charge density on Li+ is high.
  • Due to this, it has high tendency to distort the electron cloud around the negatively charged chloride ion (Cl- ) which is larger in size.
  • This results in partial covalent character of the LiCl bond.
  • Na+ ion cannot distort the electron cloud of Cl- due to the bigger size of Na+ compared to Li+
  • Hence, NaCl is an ionic compound but LiCl has some covalent character.

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