Hydrogen reacts with chlorine to form hydrogen chloride - Edexcel - GCSE Chemistry Combined Science - Question 5 - 2016 - Paper 1
Question 5
Hydrogen reacts with chlorine to form hydrogen chloride.
H–H + Cl–Cl → 2H–Cl
The symbol – is used to show a covalent bond.
The electronic configuration of hydroge... show full transcript
Worked Solution & Example Answer:Hydrogen reacts with chlorine to form hydrogen chloride - Edexcel - GCSE Chemistry Combined Science - Question 5 - 2016 - Paper 1
Step 1
The electronic configuration of hydrogen is 1.
96%
114 rated
Only available for registered users.
Sign up now to view full answer, or log in if you already have an account!
Answer
The electronic configuration of hydrogen (H) indicates that it has one electron in its outer shell. Therefore, in a covalent bond formation, hydrogen can share this one electron with chlorine.
Step 2
The electronic configuration of chlorine is 2.8.7.
99%
104 rated
Only available for registered users.
Sign up now to view full answer, or log in if you already have an account!
Answer
Chlorine (Cl) has seven electrons in its outer shell. To achieve a stable octet, chlorine needs to share one of its electrons with hydrogen.
Step 3
Draw the dot-and-cross diagram for the molecule of hydrogen chloride.
96%
101 rated
Only available for registered users.
Sign up now to view full answer, or log in if you already have an account!
Answer
In the dot-and-cross diagram:
Represent the shared electron pair between H and Cl with a line (–) to symbolize the covalent bond.
Use a dot (•) to represent hydrogen's electron.
Use a cross (x) to represent chlorine's outer electron that it shares with hydrogen.
The final diagram will look like:
H • x Cl
Here, H shows its single outer electron, and Cl shows its electrons where one is shared with H.
