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Why does an electronegative atom make it more acidic? I'm looking at the BK book page 22 last sentence.
why does electronegative atom make more acidic
- Thread starter fastfingers
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i believe it has to deal with the comfort of having a negative charge (negative charge resulting from donating the H+ to solution-->leading to acidity)
more electroneg-->more comfortable with neg charge--->more okay with accepting electrons from H+ so H+ is more free to dissoc
more electroneg-->more comfortable with neg charge--->more okay with accepting electrons from H+ so H+ is more free to dissoc
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Acidity is the tendency to gain electrons or lose H+ ions .Electronegative atoms have more tendency attract electrons. When they are bonded with H, like H ----X ,(X is the electronegative atom )and it takes away the electron density from H .This facilitate the release of H + ions .
Well obviously acidity is related to H+ ions floating around. Therefore, a stronger acid will have more H+'s in solution caused by more H+'s falling off.
Now picture this...
There is a steady amount of relative electron density in a molecule. Let's say, loosely and for just consistency, that the electron density is 2 (arbitrary number).
Cl- has an extreme amount of electronegativity which also means it attracts more electron density. In HCl, the CL has so much of the electron density, that the H begins to seem more and more positive. For example, if CL had 1/2 of the electron density it would get the arbitrary number 1 and H would get a 1. But if CL had a electron density of 1.5, it would feel more of the electron presence making it more negative and the .5 for the H would make it semi positive to counteract that negativity.
Therefore, the H has an easier chance of falling off when involved with an electronegative element.
However, make sure not to confuse this with why HI is stronger than HCl. That has is a different story..
Now picture this...
There is a steady amount of relative electron density in a molecule. Let's say, loosely and for just consistency, that the electron density is 2 (arbitrary number).
Cl- has an extreme amount of electronegativity which also means it attracts more electron density. In HCl, the CL has so much of the electron density, that the H begins to seem more and more positive. For example, if CL had 1/2 of the electron density it would get the arbitrary number 1 and H would get a 1. But if CL had a electron density of 1.5, it would feel more of the electron presence making it more negative and the .5 for the H would make it semi positive to counteract that negativity.
Therefore, the H has an easier chance of falling off when involved with an electronegative element.
However, make sure not to confuse this with why HI is stronger than HCl. That has is a different story..
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