Which compound in each of the following pairs is more ionic?

(d) BCl₃ or AlCl₃

Video transcript

All right. Hi, everyone. So this question says which compound? Si F four or Gef four has more ionic character. Option A says that Si F four has a more ionic character. Option B says that Gef four has a more ionic character. And option C says that Si F four and Gef four have the same ionic character. Now recall that ionic character examines the difference in electron negativity between two atoms that are covalent bound together. So in both cases that we have here on the screen, it just so happens that we have two compounds that are ha lights, right? In one, we have silicone being bound to fluorine which is a halogen. And in the second compound we have Germanium. So in order to understand the difference of compare the ionic character of these two compounds, we have to compare the electronegativity of silicone and Germania because the greater the electron negativity difference is between silicone or Germanium and fluorine. The more ionic character that compound is going to have, right. So recall that silicon and Germanium both belong to group four A on the periodic table. And it just so happens that after carbon in group four A is silicone followed by Germania, right. And generally speaking, as you go down a group in the periodic table, that electronegativity is going to decrease. So as electron negativity decreases, as you go down, a group metallic character is also going to increase and recall that compounds formed between a metal and a non metal is considered to be more ionic, right. So if we consider silicone versus germanium, germanium is less electron and therefore more metallic compared to silicone. So because of this, the difference in electron negativity between germanium and fluorine is going to be more significant, right? There's going to be a larger difference in their electronegativity values, meaning that Gef four is going to have a greater ionic character. Therefore, our answer is going to be option B in the multiple choice because Gef four has a more ionic character due to there being a more significant difference in the electron negativity values of fluorine and germanium. So with that being said, thank you so very much for watching. And I hope you found this helpful.