What is ionic character?
Understand the Problem
The question is asking for a definition or explanation of what ionic character is, which relates to the degree to which a chemical bond between two atoms has ionic characteristics, as opposed to covalent characteristics.
Answer
Ionic character refers to the degree to which electrons are transferred between atoms in a bond, rather than shared equally.
Ionic character refers to the amount of electron sharing between atoms in a compound and indicates how much of the bonding between the atoms involves a transfer of electrons rather than sharing them equally.
Answer for screen readers
Ionic character refers to the amount of electron sharing between atoms in a compound and indicates how much of the bonding between the atoms involves a transfer of electrons rather than sharing them equally.
More Information
The percentage of ionic character helps in understanding the bond type, predicting the physical properties, and reactivity of the substance.
Tips
A common mistake is to think that only ionic bonds have ionic character, but even covalent bonds can have partial ionic character if the atoms have different electronegativities.
Sources
- Ionic and Covalent Character - chem.purdue.edu
- Bond Character - Chemistry LibreTexts - chem.libretexts.org
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