Polar covalent vs ionic question

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ZoeMarkson

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Ok guys, sorry for all of these questions: just freaking out about my test coming up this week...

Which of the following bond types is most likely to occur between two elements where one has a low ionization energy, and the other has a high electron affinity?

a. ionic
b. metallic
c. hydrogen
d. polar covalent
e. non-polar covalent


The answer is a. ionic, which makes sense, but I am wondering why it ISN'T polar covalent.

Thank you.
 
Ionic= The transfer of electrons from a metal(electron donor/ low ionization energy) to a non-metal(acceptor/ high electron affinity). (ex: NaCl. Na only has one valence electron, Cl has 7 electrons so Na donates its electron so that they now both have a full octet)

Covalent bond= The sharing of electrons between non-metals, and specifically polar covalent is the unequal sharing of electrons where one element hogs the electrons (ex: H2O)
 
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Ok guys, sorry for all of these questions: just freaking out about my test coming up this week...

Which of the following bond types is most likely to occur between two elements where one has a low ionization energy, and the other has a high electron affinity?

a. ionic
b. metallic
c. hydrogen
d. polar covalent
e. non-polar covalent


The answer is a. ionic, which makes sense, but I am wondering why it ISN'T polar covalent.

Thank you.
Ionization energy= amount of energy required to rip an electron of the atom, thus very little effort required to take the electron from metals (Cs), while electron affinity= the atoms desire grab an electron (F)
 
Think of the characteristics of those two elements as far where they lie on the table.

Also, for future reference there is a forum just for the DAT.
Good luck on your exam!
 
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