Chemistry Unit 2 AQA GCSE: Giant Covalent Structures
Information about graphite, diamond, silicon dioxide and fullerenes
- Created by: Sinjini
- Created on: 04-04-13 10:52
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- Giant Covalent Structures
- Diamond
- Only made of carbon
- Each carbon atom forms 4 covalent bond
- Very rigid strucure
- Properties
- Very hard
- Does not conduct Electricity
- High melting/ boiling points
- Not malleable
- All of the bonds are directional (stress can break structure)
- No electrons are free to move in the structure as all valence electrons are used in the bonding
- Graphite
- Only made of carbon
- Layers are free to slide over one another (weak intermolecular forces between layers)
- Each carbon atom has one delocalised electron
- Properties
- High melting/ boiling points
- Soft and slippery
- Conducts heat and electricity
- The bonds are directional across the layers
- Silicon Dioxide
- Each grain of sand is one giant structure of silicon and oxygen
- Properties
- High melting/ boiling points
- Doesn't conduct electricity
- Allotrope: Structually different forms of the same element
- Fullerenes
- Structure is based on hexagonal rings of a number of carbon atoms
- Uses
- Drug delivery into the body
- In lubricats as catalysts
- In nanotubes for reinforcing materials, eg in tennis rackets
- Smallest fullerene has 60 carbon atoms and is known as Buckministerfullerene
- Diamond
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