What is the effect of increasing the size of the halogen atom on the reactivity of haloalkanes?
Practice Questions
1 question
Q1
What is the effect of increasing the size of the halogen atom on the reactivity of haloalkanes?
Increases reactivity
Decreases reactivity
No effect
Depends on the solvent
Increasing the size of the halogen atom generally increases the reactivity of haloalkanes due to the weaker C-X bond.
Questions & Step-by-step Solutions
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Q
Q: What is the effect of increasing the size of the halogen atom on the reactivity of haloalkanes?
Solution: Increasing the size of the halogen atom generally increases the reactivity of haloalkanes due to the weaker C-X bond.
Steps: 7
Step 1: Understand what haloalkanes are. They are organic compounds that contain carbon (C) and halogen (X) atoms.
Step 2: Identify the halogen atoms. Common halogens include fluorine (F), chlorine (Cl), bromine (Br), and iodine (I).
Step 3: Recognize that halogen atoms increase in size as you go down the group in the periodic table. For example, iodine is larger than chlorine.
Step 4: Learn about the C-X bond. This is the bond between the carbon atom and the halogen atom in haloalkanes.
Step 5: Understand that larger halogen atoms form weaker C-X bonds. This is because the larger size means the bond is longer and less strong.
Step 6: Realize that weaker bonds are easier to break. Therefore, haloalkanes with larger halogen atoms (like iodine) are more reactive than those with smaller halogens (like fluorine).
Step 7: Conclude that increasing the size of the halogen atom generally increases the reactivity of haloalkanes due to the weaker C-X bond.
