SCIENCE: Covalent and Ionic bonds... HELP ME!!?

Question

I'm learning about IONIC solids and COVALENT solids.

How can I explain how their bonds have to do with:

1. Odor
2. Hardness
3. Melting point
4. Solubility with water
5. Solubility with propanol
and 6. Electrical conductivity


(best answer= 10 points, don't forget...)

Answer 1

1. Odour
Ionic solids tend to be scentless, due to their low propensity to vapourise from the surface of the solid, whereas covalent chemicals tend to evaporate more rapidly due to weak solid structures. (Most covalent solids tend to be held together by weak bonds like Van der Waals forces.)
2. Hardness
Ionic solids are hard because of their crystalline structure, the ionic lattice. This holds the particles together with relatively strong polar bonding and allows breakage only along the polar edges of the lattice.
Covalent solids, for the most part are weak because they have only strong intramolecular bonding, with little intermolecular bonding. The notable exception to this is solid carbon in the form of diamond.

3. Melting point
This is pretty much the same argument as above, intermolecular bonding in ions is stronger.

4. Water solubility
Ionic solids are soluble in water because water is a polar solvent, and can interact with each ion quite comfortably, whereas covalent solids tend to have little or no interaction with the water molecules.

5. Solubility with propanol
Ionic solids will dissolve in propanol, due to its alcohol group, but will not be nearly as miscible as the covalent solids. Propanol is an organic solvent, which dissolves covalent solids, such as most organic molecules (fatty acids etc) more easily, due to a lack of polarity.

6. Electrical conductivity
Ionic solids conduct electricity because they contain free valency electrons in the solid structure. These are passed between the ions in the solid to conduct electricity.
Covalent solids do NOT have these valency electrons free, as they are firmly shared between the atoms in the molecules and are therefore not available to be passed.

Hope that helps!

Answer 2

I can not all answer

Ionic solids are more soluble in water since water is a polar solvent which initiates dissociation of ionic compounds

Covalent compounds are more soluble in propanol a non polar compound

Answer 3

the best thing to do is pay attention in class or even read a book? lol only kidding i covered this ages ago nd i wish i still knew :(

Answer 4

Try look in
http://www.chemsoc.org
http://www.rsc.org
http://www.ase.org.uk