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\"The figure below is meant to represent the formation of an ionic bond between

ID: 800224 • Letter: #

Question

"The figure below is meant to represent the formation of an ionic bond between an alkali metal and a halogen. If the orientation of the atom reactants on the left is maintained in the products on the right (e.g., atoms A B on the left and ions A* B* on the right), then what do atoms A and B represent?

A) A represents the alkali metal and B represents the halogen.
B) A represents the halogen and B represents the alkali metal.
C) The reaction depicted is more reminiscent of covalent bond formation rather than ionic bond formation, and thus distinguishing between A and B is not possible.
D) The reaction depicted is reminiscent of ionic bond formation, but there is not enough information to decide what A and B represent.


The answer is B, but I don't understand how to get to the answer. Can someone please explain the logic behind this?

"The figure below is meant to represent the formation of an ionic bond between an alkali metal and a halogen. If the orientation of the atom reactants on the left is maintained in the products on the right (e.g., atoms A B on the left and ions A* B* on the right), then what do atoms A and B represent? A represents the alkali metal and B represents the halogen. A represents the halogen and B represents the alkali metal. The reaction depicted is more reminiscent of covalent bond formation rather than ionic bond formation, and thus distinguishing between A and B is not possible. The reaction depicted is reminiscent of ionic bond formation, but there is not enough information to decide what A and B represent.

Explanation / Answer

Usually n the ionic compound formed the size of halogen is larger than the size of alkali-metal