The bonding continuum and the bonding triangle
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Flip to reveal answersWhat does the bonding triangle (van Arkel–Ketelaar) show?
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Question
What does the bonding triangle (van Arkel–Ketelaar) show?
Answer
That ionic, covalent and metallic bonding are the three **extremes** of one **continuum** — real compounds sit in between.
Question
What are the three corners of the bonding triangle?
Answer
**Metallic** (bottom-left), **covalent** (bottom-right) and **ionic** (top).
Question
What is electronegativity (χ)?
Answer
How strongly an atom **attracts a shared pair of electrons**; values are in the data booklet.
Question
How do you find χ_avg?
Answer
Average the two electronegativities: $\chi_{avg} = \dfrac{\chi_A + \chi_B}{2}$ — it sets the **horizontal** position.
Question
How do you find Δχ?
Answer
Take the difference: $\Delta\chi = |\chi_A - \chi_B|$ — it sets the **vertical** (ionic) position.
Question
What does a large Δχ tell you?
Answer
Electrons are essentially **transferred** → the bonding is **ionic** (high up the triangle).
Question
What does a small Δχ with high χ_avg tell you?
Answer
Electrons are **shared** between similar non-metals → **covalent** (bottom-right corner).
Question
What does a small Δχ with low χ_avg tell you?
Answer
A sea of delocalised electrons among metal atoms → **metallic** (bottom-left corner).
Question
Place NaCl, Cl_{2} and Na on the triangle.
Answer
NaCl → **ionic** (top, large Δχ); Cl_{2} → **covalent** (bottom-right); Na → **metallic** (bottom-left).
Question
Why is the triangle better than 'metal + non-metal = ionic'?
Answer
It uses the **actual χ values**, so it correctly classifies polar-covalent metal compounds like BeCl_{2}.
Question
How is ionic bonding distinguished from covalent in terms of electrons?
Answer
Ionic = electrons **transferred** (large Δχ); covalent = electrons **shared** (small Δχ).
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