Estimate the As¬I bond length from the data in Figure 7.7 and compare your value to the experimental As ¬I bond length in arsenic triiodide, AsI₃, 2.55 Å.

Verified step by step guidance

1. Identify the atomic radii of arsenic (As) and iodine (I) from the periodic table. From the image, the atomic radius of As is 120 pm and the atomic radius of I is 133 pm.
2. Convert the atomic radii from picometers (pm) to angstroms (Å) if necessary. Note that 1 Å = 100 pm.
3. Estimate the bond length by adding the atomic radii of As and I. This gives an estimated bond length in picometers.
4. Convert the estimated bond length from picometers to angstroms if necessary.
5. Compare the estimated bond length to the experimental bond length of 2.55 Å for AsI3.

Key Concepts

Atomic Radius

The atomic radius is a measure of the size of an atom, typically defined as the distance from the nucleus to the outermost electron shell. In the context of bond length, the atomic radius of the involved elements can be used to estimate the distance between them in a bond. For arsenic (As) and iodine (I), their respective atomic radii are crucial for calculating the As-I bond length.

Bond Length

Bond length is the average distance between the nuclei of two bonded atoms. It is influenced by the size of the atoms and the nature of the bond (single, double, etc.). In this case, estimating the As-I bond length involves using the atomic radii of arsenic and iodine, and comparing the calculated value to the experimentally determined bond length in arsenic triiodide (AsI3), which is 2.55 Å.

Comparison to Experimental Data

Comparing calculated values to experimental data is a fundamental practice in chemistry. It allows for the validation of theoretical models and calculations. In this question, the estimated As-I bond length should be compared to the known experimental bond length of 2.55 Å in AsI3 to assess the accuracy of the estimation and understand the reliability of the atomic radius values used.