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Oxides of Chlorine
Concepts tested here
- Odd electron molecules
All Questions
2005 AIPMT 1 question
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Which one of the following oxides is expected to exhibit paramagnetic behaviour -A substance is paramagnetic if it has one or more unpaired electrons.
Count the valence electrons. $ClO_2$: Cl has 7 and each O has 6, so total $= 7 + 2 \times 6 = 19$, an odd number.
A molecule with an odd number of electrons must have at least one unpaired electron, so $ClO_2$ is an odd electron molecule and is paramagnetic.
$CO_2$ (16 valence electrons), $SO_2$ (18) and $SiO_2$ (a network solid with all electrons paired) have no unpaired electrons, so they are diamagnetic.
So the paramagnetic oxide is $ClO_2$.