CI 3.

The size of ions

 Ions in solution
• Attractions to other ions and to water
molecules depend on:

• Charge on the ion

• Size of the ion

Highly charged ions are strongly attracted to
other ions and to water molecules

3+ 3-

3+ 3-
 Small ions are strongly attracted to other
ions and to water molecules because they
can get close

Water molecule
 Charge density
• An ion which has a high charge and a
small size has a high charge density

Al3+
3+

I-
High charge
density
Low charge density
 Ions with high charge density
• Attract water molecules strongly Become very
hydrated

• Attract other ions strongly, forming lattices

with strong ionic bonds
Have high
melting points
 Trends in size
• Moving down a group in the Periodic Table:
• Atomic radius increases

Look at table 4,
Why? page 42
• Moving across the Periodic Table from left
to right:

• Atomic radius decreases

• Na > Mg > Al

Why??


 Atomic radius
• This depends on:

• Number of protons in nucleus

• Number of electron shells

 Moving from left to right
• An extra proton is added each time
• An extra electron is added, but into the
same shell
• Each electron is pulled more strongly
towards the nucleus
• Result = a smaller atom
 Trend in ionic radius
• Moving from left to right

• Ionic radius decreases initially, increases

and then decreases across the period

Why?


 Ionic radius - Cations
• Moving across the period an extra proton is
added each time
• But one more electron is lost each time to form
the ion
• So, moving from left to right, the nuclear charge
is increasing, but the negative charge stays the
same so the electrons are pulled more tightly
towards the nucleus
• Result = size of cation decreases from left to
right
Na+ > Mg2+ > Al3+
 Example
Element Protons Electrons Electron
configuration
Na+ 11 10 1s22s22p6

Mg2+ 12 10 1s22s22p6

Al3+ 13 10 1s22s22p6

So why is there an increase in ionic
radius in the middle?

• Metal atoms lose their outer shell

electrons to form ions, but non-metal
atoms gain extra electrons into the outer
shell
• So as you move from a metal to a non-
metal, there is an extra shell of electrons
• Result = a bigger ion
 Compare the following ions in
period 3

• Al3+ 1s22s22p6 Atomic no = 13

• P3- 1s2 2s2 2p63s23p6 Atomic no = 15

P3- has one more shell of

electrons than Al3+
 Ionic radius - Anions
• As you move further across to the right, the ionic
radius decreases again
?

• The ion of the next element has two more
electrons than its atom
• But it has one more proton & the same number
of electrons as the previous ion
• This results in the ion being larger than its atom,
but smaller than the previous ion
 Compare the following anions in
period 2
Element Protons Electrons Electron
configuration
N3- 7 10 1s2 2s2 2p6

O2- 8 10 1s2 2s2 2p6

F- 9 10 1s2 2s2 2p6

 So, to sum up…

• From left to right across the Periodic
Table:
• Metal ions decrease in size

• Changing from metal ions to non-metal

ions, there is a big increase in size

• Non-metal ions decrease in size

 Hydration & Size
• Hydration adds one or more layers of
water molecules to an ion
• The smaller the ion and the higher the
charge, the more water molecules will be
attracted
• So small, highly charged ions become
large when they are hydrated.
 Question time
• Have a go at the ?
problems