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Fazan's Rule-, Fajans' rule predicts whether a chemical bond will be covalent or ionic. A few ionic bonds have, partial covalent characteristics which were first discussed by Kazimierz Fajans in 1923. At that, time with the help of X-ray crystallography, he was able to predict ionic or covalent bonding with, the attributes like ionic and atomic radius., We classify certain compounds as ionic and other compounds as covalent. Now if we were to, ask, amongst the alkali chlorides, which is the most ionic? To answer these kinds of questions,, we employ Fajans' rules as a tool., FAJAN'S RULE, Deformation of electron charge cloud of anion, that is polarizability of anion., Electron, charge, cloud of, anion., Electron charge, Cation cloud of anion., anion

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To understand the Fajans' rule, let us first understand a few terms:, 1.Polarising power-, It is the extent to which a cation can polarise an anion. It is proportional to charge density., Charge density is the ratio of charge to volume. Polarising power a Charge density. More the, charge density, greater is the polarising power for that cation., 2.Polarisability-, It is the extent to which an ion can be polarised. It can also be called as the ease with which an, ion can be polarised. Polarisation is the distortion of a spherically symmetric electron cloud to, an unsymmetric cloud., Postulates of Fajans' Rule-, The rule can be stated on the basis of 3 factors, which are:, 1.Size of the ion: Smaller the size of cation, the larger the size of the anion, greater is the, covalent character of the ionic bond., 2.The charge of Cation: Greater the charge of cation, greater is the covalent character of the, ionic bond., 3.Electronic configuration: For cations with same charge and size, the one, with (n-1)dn nso, which is found in transition elements have greater covalent character than the cation with ns2, np6 electronic configuration, which is commonly found in alkali or alkaline earth metals., Fajan's rule-Polarization of anion by cation., Cationic Anionic Polarization of, Polarization, charge charge anion by cation. Polarization gradually increases., COVALENT CHARACTER GRADUALLY INCREASES., Explanation of Fazans' Rule-

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Rule 1:The first rule speaks about the polarising power of the cation. If the cation is smaller,, then we can say that the volume of the ion is less. If the volume is less, we can conclude that, the charge density of the ion would be high., Since the charge density is high, the polarising power of the ion would be high. This makes the, compound to be more covalent., Rule 2: The second rule speaks about the polarizability of the anion. Larger the anion, less is, the effective nuclear charge that holds the valence electron of the ion in place. Since the last, electron is loosely bound in large anions, it can easily be polarised by a cation, thereby making, the compound more covalent., Rule 3:The third rule is a special case. Let us use an example to explain this point., Example: If we want to find the more covalent compound among HgCl2 and Calcium Chloride, we cannot use size as a factor to conclude. This is because both Hg2+ and Ca2+ are of almost, equal size. To explain this, we employ the third rule., The electronic configuration of Hg2+ is 6s0 5d10. This configuration is called pseudo-octet, because d-orbital is fully filled, but the element does not have 8 electrons or an octet., We know that d orbitals are not good at shielding, so we can say that the anion (Cl-) would be, more polarised because the d orbital is poor at shielding making HgC12 more covalent than, CaCl2 because Ca2+ ion has a noble gas configuration., Now to answer the question that we asked first, amongst the alkali chlorides, which one is the, most covalent?, Since the anion is the same, we have to compare the cations. According to Fajans' rules, smaller, the cation, more is the covalency. Therefore, LiCl is the most covalent., Let us Understand Fajans' Rule Using a Detailed Illustration:, Consider Aluminum lodide (All3), This is an ionic bond which was formed by transfer of electrons.The iodine being bigger has a, lesser effective nuclear charge. Thus, the bonding electrons are attracted lesser towards the, lodine nucleus.On the contrary, the aluminium having three positive charges attracts the shared, pair of electrons towards itself.This leads to insufficient charge separation for it to be ionic and, so it results in the development of covalent character in All3., Consider Aluminium Fluoride (AIF3), This is an ionic bond which was also formed by transfer of electron. But here the fluorine being

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smaller attracts the shared pair of an electron more towards itself and so there is sufficient, charge separation to make it ionic., Fajan's rules - Summary, +., Covalent nature, DECREASES, Small Cation, Large Cation, MISTRY, Covalent nature, INCREASES, Small Anion, Large Anion, wwAD, Low Charge, Covalent nature, INCREASES, High Charge, Examples on Fajans' rule-, Illustration 1: Which compound should theoretically the most ionic and the most covalent, amongst the metal halides?, Solution:The smallest metal ion and the largest anion should technically be the most, covalent. Therefore, Lil is the most covalent. The largest cation and the smallest anion should be, the most ionic. Therefore, CsF should be the most ionic., Illustration 2: Arrange the following according to the increasing order of covalency: