True or false? The maximum covalency in 2nd-period elements is 44. Why is this true if fluorine can only make one bond?

1 Answer
Truong-Son N.
Aug 9, 2017

Notice what the "rule" says: the maximum covalency of 2nd-period elements. It doesn't say for all elements in the 2nd period, but rather, when considering each element.

Carbon is the atom that can make four bonds at once, e.g. in "CH"_4CH4 and other hydrocarbons. Not fluorine.

On the other hand, "Br"Br and "I"I can make more than four bonds, as they can pool in (n-1)d(n−1)d orbitals to form hypervalent compounds such as "BrF"_5BrF5 and this beast (periodinane).

Related questions
See all questions in Valence Electrons
Impact of this question
8722 views around the world
You can reuse this answer
Creative Commons License