ChemSiddiqui Posted November 16, 2007 Share Posted November 16, 2007 Hi, Can someone explain 'Inert Pair Effect' to me. It is not in A'levels syllabus but is important in understading the stabilities of Group IV element. I have read all the books I have and got nothing out of it. You can provide links that could explain it easily, if you like. Thnxx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Realitycheck Posted November 16, 2007 Share Posted November 16, 2007 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inert_pair_effect http://antoine.frostburg.edu/chem/senese/101/glossary/i.shtml Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChemSiddiqui Posted November 17, 2007 Author Share Posted November 17, 2007 agentchange thnx for them, I have tried wikipedia before. It is my first choice evertime I search for anything regarding chemistry. Have you or any1 else got a different link. Seriously, Google is of no help in this matter. thnx anyway Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iNow Posted November 17, 2007 Share Posted November 17, 2007 Maybe this will help: http://antoine.frostburg.edu/chem/senese/101/bonds/glossary.shtml inert pair. inert pair effect.Valence electrons in an s orbital penetrate to the nucleus better than electrons in p orbitals, and as a result they're more tightly bound to the nucleus and less able to participate in bond formation. A pair of such electrons is called an "inert pair". The inert pair effect explains why common ions of Pb are Pb4+ and Pb2+, and not just Pb4+ as we might expect from the octet rule. Then, if you don't undestand any of the terms in the definition, you can "drill-down" and look those up too. I've embedded links within the definition I quoted above on certain key words. Hopefully this nudges you in the right direction to answer your query. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChemSiddiqui Posted November 17, 2007 Author Share Posted November 17, 2007 thnx 4 the help. I shall do as u say. I understand the terms you highlighted but wanted a broad yet easy explaination. But, hey thnx again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Testo Posted November 18, 2007 Share Posted November 18, 2007 broad and easy explanation eh? how about lower members of group 4 are less able to use their s electrons to form 4 bonds than that of say Carbon which promotes an 's' electron to a 'p' orbital = 4 unpaired electrons = 4bonds. So Pb is stuck with 2 paired s electrons (INERT PAIR) and 2 unpaired electrons = 2 bonds hope that helps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChemSiddiqui Posted November 20, 2007 Author Share Posted November 20, 2007 Thnx alot testo! Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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