Answer to Question #177800 in Physical Chemistry for Rakesh Ranjan

Question

An ancient asteroid, known as Bennu, is currently more than 200 million miles (321 million kilometers) from Earth. Imagine, you are in the NASA team inspecting the material of Bennu. You have figured out that the material has 5 orbit and its 4th orbit contains 13 electrons. Also, you have figured out that it can donate one electron and can bind with an earth element and after the bonding the compound is soluble in water. During the reaction process this material become activated and you can see an energy graph like this. Now, based on the observation, answer the following questions:

1.Write down the electron configuration of the atom. Does it follow the normal Aufbau Principle?Explain.

2.What kind of bond will be formed due to the reaction with the earth element? Explain your reason behind that. Why the compound became soluble? Can it make covalent bond in any way? (Not more than 50 words).

3. Write the rate law for an endothermic reaction in one sentence

Answer 1

Aufbau principle states that electrons must fill lowest energy shells first. Following the model, electrons fill the 1s orbital with two electrons, then the 2s with two electrons, then the 2p with six electrons, then the 3s with two electrons.

The chemistry of the alkaline-earth metals, like that of the alkali metals, is for the most part reasonably interpreted in terms of an ionic model for the compounds formed. This model is less satisfactory for the chemistry of beryllium and magnesium than for the heavier alkaline-earth metals. In fact, most beryllium compounds are molecular (covalent) rather than ionic. This is a consequence of the high charge-to-size ratio of the Be²⁺ ion, which strongly polarizes bonds to it.

The general equation for an endothermic reaction is: Reactants + Energy → Products. Note: ΔH represents the change in energy. In endothermic reactions, the temperature of the products is typically lower than the temperature of the reactants.