What kind of bonding is involved in carbon dioxide and silicon dioxide?

1 Answer
anor277
Apr 21, 2018

This actually illustrates an interesting phenomenon with respect to #"molecular"#, and #"non-molecular bonding."#

Explanation:

Now carbon dioxide is molecular (and we are exhaling it now!), and the normal Lewis structure is #O=C=O#. The central carbon is #"sp-hybridized"#; the terminal oxygens are #sp^2-"hybridized"#.

On t'other hand, #SiO_2# is NON-MOLECULAR...with infinite #Si-O-Si-O# bridges... The third row silicon atom is LESS capable of participating in #ppi-ppi# multiple bonding...and here we got a giant covalent structure rather than discrete molecules.

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