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Polarization

The lecture notes on polarization explain the phenomenon where cations deform anions due to coulombic attraction, termed polarization. It discusses the polarizing power of cations and the polarizability of anions, highlighting factors affecting polarization such as size and charge of the ions. Fajan's rule is introduced, indicating that smaller cations and larger anions with higher charges lead to greater polarization and increased covalent character in bonds.

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64 views4 pages

Polarization

The lecture notes on polarization explain the phenomenon where cations deform anions due to coulombic attraction, termed polarization. It discusses the polarizing power of cations and the polarizability of anions, highlighting factors affecting polarization such as size and charge of the ions. Fajan's rule is introduced, indicating that smaller cations and larger anions with higher charges lead to greater polarization and increased covalent character in bonds.

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laxmilakhchaura123
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Engineering Chemistry

B.Tech.

Lecture notes on polarization

By
Dr. Ramesh Chandra Sharma
(Assistant Professor)
Department of Chemistry
Polarization
When two oppositely charged ion i.e. cations and anions approach each other,
the valence shell of anions is pulled towards cation nucleus due to the
coulombic attraction and thus shape of the anion is deformed. This phenomenon
of deformation of anion by a cation is known as polarization and the ability of
cation to polarize a nearby anion is called as polarizing power of cation.

The ability of a cation to polarise an ion is termed as its polarising power or


polarising ability, while the ability of an anion to get polarised by a cation is
called its polarizability. It should be noted that an anion can also polarise a
cation, but due to small size of the cation, the extent of polarisation is too
small to be significant. This can be illustrated with the help of following Fig-

Fajan’s point out that greater is the polarization of anion in a molecule, more is
covalent character in it. This is known as Fajan's rule. The factors affecting the
extent of polarisation are given below-
1. Size of Cation: Smaller the size of the cation, more is the charge density and
greater is the extent of polarisation. This means that cations with small size
have high polarising power.
2. Magnitude of Positive Charge: Higher the positive charge on the cation,
stronger is its attraction for the electron charge cloud of the anion and greater
is the extent of polarisation. This means that cations with high positive charge
have high polarising power.
3. Size of Anion: Larger the size of anion, easier is the distortion of its electron
charge cloud and more is its polarizability. This means that anions with large
size are easily polarisable.
4. Magnitude of Negative Charge: Higher the negative change on an anion,
easier is the distortion of its electron charge cloud and more is the
polarizability. This means that anion with high magnitudes of negative charge
is more polarisable.
5. Electronic Configuration of the Cation: Due to poor shielding effect of d-
electrons, cations with pseudo inert gas configuration (ns 2p6d 10) have greater
effective nuclear charge as compared to cation with inert gas configuration (ns
2 6
p ). As a result, cations with pseudo noble gas electronic configurations have
high polarising power.
4. Size of Anion: Larger the size of anion, easier is the distortion of its electron
charge cloud and more is its polarizability. This means that anions with large
size are easily polarisable.
5. Magnitude of Negative Charge: Higher the negative change on an anion,
easier is the distortion of its electron charge cloud and more is the
polarizability. This means that anion with high magnitudes of negative charge
is more polarisable.
This can be summarised in terms of Fajan’s rule as smaller the cation, larger
the anion, more the charges on the ions, greater is the polarisation and more is
the covalent character of a bond.

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