A STUDY ON GIANT COVALENT STRUCTURES

Properties of Graphite Properties of Sand Properties of Diamond

Melting point = 3550 degrees Celsius

Properties of Silicon

Properties of Graphite

Melting point = 3652 degrees Celsius

Melting point = 1710 degrees Celsius

Melting point = 1410 degrees Celsius

All giant covalent structures have generally high melting points because much energy is required to break both the intermolecular van der Waals forces and intramolecular covalent bonds.

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For advanced learners, read on:

The melting points of Silicon and sand is generally Lower than diamond. This is because Si-Si bond is longer than C-C bond in diamond and graphite, because Si has a larger radius. As the bond length decreases, the amount of energy needed to break the attractive force between the pair of electrons in the covalent bond and the protons in the nucleus increases.

Electrical conductivity

Conducts electricity. Although the electrons are involved in covalent bonds, there is one electron in graphite which is not used in bonding, therefore it can form a delocalized electron that can carry a current.

Does not conduct electricity in any state. This is due to the absence of mobile ions and electrons in the structure as each silicon atom uses all its four valence electrons for covalent bonding, which is why there are no free electrons to act as charge-carriers.

Does not conduct electricity in any state. All four outer valence electrons in each Carbon atom in Diamonds are involved in forming covalent bonds with four other C atoms. Therefore the valence electrons are not free to move making diamond unable to form a current required to conduct electricity.

*Does not conduct electricity. Using the same principle as Diamond, all valence electrons in each Si atom are involved in forming covalent bonds.

*However, Silicon can conduct electricity at an elevated temperature using Band theory. At a higher temperature, electrons in the valence band would have enough energy to be promoted to the conduction band. However, at room temperature, the band gap is too wide. That is why, silicon is a non-conductor of electricity in room temperature.

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All are non-conductors of electricity with the exception of graphite. This is due to the fact that each do not have delocalised electrons that can act as charge-carriers. It is also noteworthy that silicon is a semi-conductor of electricity, and will only conduct electricity under certain conditions [high temperature]

Solubility in water

Graphite is not soluble in water and most organic solvents. This is because the covalent bonds between the carbon atoms are too strong as compared to attraction exerted by polar water molecules.

Sand is not soluble in water and organic solvents. This is because a huge amount of energy is needed to break the strong covalent bonds between the silicon and oxygen atoms, in order to solvate the structure. It is soluble in hot concentrated alkaline such as sodium hydroxide, because sand is acidic.

Diamond is not soluble in water and most organic solvents. This is because the covalent bonds between the carbon atoms are much stronger than the force of attraction exerted by polar water molecules.

Silicon is not soluble in water and most organic solvents. There is no liquid where the attractive forces is stronger than that of the attraction from the covalent bonds.

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Material strength

All of them are insoluble in water due to the presence of strong covalent bonds in macro-molecules, making it hard for the polar attraction of water to solvate the covalent structures.

According to Mohs scale of mineral hardness, graphite has a value of 1.5.

According to Mohs scale of mineral hardness, sand, or quartz as it is known as in the scale, has a value of 7.

According to Mohs scale of mineral hardness, diamond has a value of 10, while nanocrystalline diamond has a value of >10.

According to Mohs scale of mineral hardness, silicon has a value of 6.5.

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The material strength relates to the amount of intramolecular covalent bonds and the strength of covalent bonds in the giant lattice. In diamond, all four valence electrons are used for bonding, likewise for silicon. However, silicon, being a larger atom than carbon, would have a weaker bond as the bond length would be greater. [Si-Si bonds are weaker than C-C bonds]. Sand has a similar arrangement as silicon, however, some silicon atoms are replaced by oxygen atoms, and they can form only two bonds. Hence, overall, there are fewer number of covalent bonds in a fixed volume for sand as compared to the other aforementioned two. In graphite, every carbon atom uses only three out of its four carbon atoms for intramolecular bonding. Hence, there are fewer bonds to be broken, making the molecule less strong.

Presented to you by 3S1 group 10 (Lu Liang Hao, Nicholas Tey, Darren Ng)

A STUDY ON GIANT COVALENT STRUCTURES

Definition of giant covalent structure: A compound made from covalent bonds between numerous atoms. Structure of Diamond:
Carbon has an electronic arrangement of 2.4. In diamond, each carbon shares electrons with four other carbon atoms - forming four single bonds.

Some carbon atoms only seem to be forming two bonds, but it is not the case. We are only showing a small bit of the entire structure. This is a giant covalent structure because it continues on and on in three dimensions. It is not a molecule, because the number of atoms joined up in a real diamond is completely depends on the size of the crystal.

Structure of Sand:

Each silicon atom is covalently bonded to four oxygen atoms by strong covalent bonds in a tetrahedral (having 4 plan faces) structure and each oxygen atom is covalently bonded to two silicon atom.

Structure of Graphite:
The way which covalent bonding takes place in Graphite is unique, and we will be touching on this here.

In a giant lattice structure of graphite, layers of hexagonal rings of carbon atoms are formed. Within each layer intramolecular covalent bonds attach each carbon atom to three other carbon atom. The 4th bonding electron is delocalized (mobile) and moves between the layers. These electrons form Van der Waals intermolecular forces that hold the layers together.

Structure of Silicon:

Silicon atoms form bonds with all other adjacent atoms in a giant silicon crystal structure.
Presented to you by 3S1 group 10 (Lu Liang Hao, Nicholas Tey, Darren Ng)

A STUDY ON GIANT COVALENT STRUCTURES

References: Pictures:
http://www.nano-enhanced-wholesale-technologies.com/images/structure-graphite.gif

Academic Sources consulted:

http://www.chemguide.co.uk/atoms/structures/giantcov.html http://www.diamondpriceguide.com/c119_Diamonds/q79071_Can-acid-dissolve-a-diamond http://www.docbrown.info/page04/4_72bond4.htm

http://www.scribd.com/doc/22452183/Giant-Covalent-Substances http://www.chemguide.co.uk/atoms/structures/giantcov.html

Presented to you by 3S1 group 10 (Lu Liang Hao, Nicholas Tey, Darren Ng)