As discussed in the text, we can draw an analogy between the attraction of an electron to a nucleus and the act of perceiving light from a lightbulbin essence, the more nuclear charge the electron sees, the greater the attraction. (a) Using this analogy, discuss how screening by core electrons is analogous to putting a frosted-glass lampshade between the lightbulb and your eyes, as shown in the illustration. Lightbulb Frosted glass Observer (b) Explain how we could mimic moving to the right in a row of the periodic table by changing the wattage of the lightbulb. (c) How would you change the wattage of the bulb and/or change the frosted glass to mimic the effect of moving down a column of the periodic table? [Section 7.2]
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Textbook Solutions for Chemistry: The Central Science
Question
(a) The measured \(\mathrm{Bi} \neg \mathrm{Br}\) bond length in bismuth tribromide,
\(\mathrm{BiBr}_{3} \text {, is } 2.63 \AA\). Based on this value and the data in Figure 7.8, predict the atomic radius of \(\mathrm{Bi}\).
(b) Bismuth tribromide is soluble in acidic solution. It is formed by treating solid bismuth(III) oxide with aqueous hydrobromic acid. Write a balanced chemical equation for this reaction.
(c) While bismuth(III) oxide is soluble in acidic solutions, it is insoluble in basic solutions such as \(\mathrm{NaOH}(a q)\). Based on these properties, is bismuth characterized as a metallic, metalloid, or nonmetallic element?
(d) Treating bismuth with fluorine gas forms \(\mathrm{BiF}_{5}\). Use the electron configuration of Bi to explain the formation of a compound with this formulation.
(e) While it is possible to form \(\mathrm{BiF}_{5}\) in the manner just described, pentahalides of bismuth are not known for the other halogens. Explain why the pentahalide might form with fluorine but not with the other halogens. How does the behavior of bismuth relate to the fact that xenon reacts with fluorine to form compounds but not with the other halogens?
Solution
The first step in solving 7 problem number trying to solve the problem we have to refer to the textbook question: (a) The measured \(\mathrm{Bi} \neg \mathrm{Br}\) bond length in bismuth tribromide, \(\mathrm{BiBr}_{3} \text {, is } 2.63 \AA\). Based on this value and the data in Figure 7.8, predict the atomic radius of \(\mathrm{Bi}\).(b) Bismuth tribromide is soluble in acidic solution. It is formed by treating solid bismuth(III) oxide with aqueous hydrobromic acid. Write a balanced chemical equation for this reaction. (c) While bismuth(III) oxide is soluble in acidic solutions, it is insoluble in basic solutions such as \(\mathrm{NaOH}(a q)\). Based on these properties, is bismuth characterized as a metallic, metalloid, or nonmetallic element? (d) Treating bismuth with fluorine gas forms \(\mathrm{BiF}_{5}\). Use the electron configuration of Bi to explain the formation of a compound with this formulation. (e) While it is possible to form \(\mathrm{BiF}_{5}\) in the manner just described, pentahalides of bismuth are not known for the other halogens. Explain why the pentahalide might form with fluorine but not with the other halogens. How does the behavior of bismuth relate to the fact that xenon reacts with fluorine to form compounds but not with the other halogens?
From the textbook chapter Periodic Properties of the Elements you will find a few key concepts needed to solve this.
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