Question

Correct the following statement: "The bonds in solid PbCl₂ are ionic; the bond in a HCl molecule is covalent. Thus, all of the valence electrons in PbCl₂ are located on the Clˉ ions, and all of the valence electrons in a HCl molecule are shared between the H and Cl atoms."

Answer 1

The bonds in PbCl₂ are ionic with Pb giving up electrons to Cl and in HCl, the bond is covalent with H and Cl sharing their electrons. However, the electrons spend more time near the Cl atom due to its higher electronegativity.

Step-by-step explanation:

The statement is essentially correct that PbCl₂ has ionic bonds and HCl has covalent bonds, but it slightly misrepresents the distribution of electrons. In PbCl₂, it is true that the valence electrons from Pb are transferred to Cl, making them Clˉ ions. However, Pb becomes a Pb²⁺ cation, and it still has valence electrons, just fewer than it did before the ionic bond was formed.

Similarly in HCl, while it is a covalently bonded molecule where the hydrogen and chlorine atoms share electrons, those electrons are not evenly shared. Due to the higher electronegativity of Cl, the shared electrons spend more time around the Cl atom, making it slightly negative and H slightly positive. So rather than all the valence electrons being 'shared between the H and Cl atoms', we would more accurately say that they 'spend more time near the Cl atom due to its higher electronegativity'.

Learn more about Ionic and Covalent Bonds