Explain why cations are smaller and anions larger in radii than?

Question: Explain why cations are smaller and anions larger in radii than?

Cations are smaller and anions are larger in radii than their parent atoms due to the changes in the electronic configuration and the effective nuclear charge.

When an atom loses one or more electrons to form a cation, the number of electrons in the outermost shell decreases. This reduces the electron-electron repulsion and leads to a decrease in the atomic radius. In addition, the effective nuclear charge increases, as the number of electrons decreases, and this causes the remaining electrons to be attracted more strongly to the nucleus, further reducing the size of the cation.

On the other hand, when an atom gains one or more electrons to form an anion, the number of electrons in the outermost shell increases. The increased number of electrons leads to an increase in electron-electron repulsion, which causes an expansion of the atomic radius. Moreover, the effective nuclear charge decreases as the number of electrons increases, leading to a weaker attraction between the nucleus and the outermost electrons, and further increasing the size of the anion.

Overall, the size of an ion depends on the balance between the attractive force of the nucleus on the electrons and the repulsive force of the electrons on each other. The addition or removal of electrons changes this balance, leading to the difference in size between cations and anions compared to their parent atoms.

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