Question

The bonds between P atoT and Cl atoms in PCIE are likely to be (1) lonic with no covalent character (2) Covalent with no ionic character (3) Covalent with some ionic character (4) lonic with some metalic character

Answer 1

The P-Cl bonds in phosphorus pentachloride (PCl5) are covalent with some ionic character due to electronegativity differences.

Step-by-step explanation:

The bonds between phosphorus (P) and chlorine (Cl) atoms in phosphorus pentachloride (PCl5) are likely to have covalent character with some ionic character. This is because, in a molecule of PCl5, there are five P-Cl bonds forming around the phosphorus atom indicating sp3d hybridization, which is characteristic of covalent bonding between nonmetals such as phosphorus and chlorine. However, the bonds may exhibit some ionic character due to the difference in electronegativity between P and Cl, which leads to unequal sharing of electrons and partial charges, though fully ionic bonding is unlikely given that both P and Cl are nonmetals.