Let's revise the characteristics of giant covalent compounds in the I/GCSE chemistry curriculum!
Melting and Boiling Points
Giant molecular substances have many strong covalent bonds holding them together; these require a large amount of energy to break so they have very high melting and boiling points.
Conduction of Electricity
In I/GCSE chemistry, graphite and allotrope of Carbon is the exception as it can conduct electricity to its structure having a free electron.
Hardness
In a giant covalent compound the forces holding particles together are covalent bonds in a 3D structure. It requires much more energy to break these so the compounds are very hard in I/GCSE chemistry curriculum.
CARBON
It has many different structures that form allotropes:
- Graphite
- Diamond
End of this topic!