Question

How would you arrange the following bonds in order of increasing ionic character? How is this determined?

`C-F`
`O-F`
`H-F`
`Na-F`

Answer 1

For the value of the greatest `DeltaEN`:

`Na-F > H-F > C-F > O-F`

Explanation:

So the electronegativity difference about the species

`Na-F` is the greatest, and it has the most ionic character out of all of the listed species.

`O-F` has the least `DeltaEN` and is the least ionic in character out of all the listed species.

To make this calculation, subtract the electronegativity values about the two species.

For starting to consider the electronic geometry:

The electron will be closer to the most electronegative atom, and will be further from the atom which is least electronegative about the bonded species.