[zubairno1]

I have a question which i know the answer to but i don't know how to explain it using the electronic configuration

1st it asks what's the electronic configuration of sodium and chlorine

which is Na= 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s1 and Cl= 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p5

but now the question is

Using the configurations of sodium and chlorine, describe the type of bonding that occurs in a molecule of sodium chloride explaining the physical nature of the bond

the simple answer would be iconic but how do i answer the question fully please help thanks

[opti384]

First of all do you know the nature of the ionic bonding?

[Caeldom]

First of all, to answer that question, I would take note of the fact I have to link in the electron configuration, then describe the type of bonding, and explain (cause and effect) the physical nature of the bond.

So, you are right, sodium and chlorine will react in an ionic bond, due to the mutual instability in the electron configuration of their outer valence shell. Sodium has only one electron to lose before it can attain stable noble configuration, and chlorine only needs one electron. Therefore sodium will donate its one electron to chlorine, resulting in both with stable electron configurations, and the electrostatic attraction of the two ions (sodium now positive, chlorine now negative) will cause them to bond together.

Now we go to the physical side of things. Due to the strong electrostatic attraction, it takes a lot of energy to break the bond between the two ions. Therefore sodium chloride has high boiling and melting points. I doubt you will need to go into structure, conductivity, brittleness etc. because it only asks for the nature of the bond.

You can try to condense that into fewer sentences if there's not enough space, but just make sure the terms in bold are stated. I hope that helps!

If you need more info, you can read up here.