Question

Atomic Orbit Structure of Sodium Chloride

Answer 1

An atom of sodium has one 3s electron outside a closed shell, and it takes only 5.14 electron volts of energy to remove that electron.

The chlorine lacks one electron to fill a shell, and releases 3.62 eV when it acquires that electron (it's electron affinity is 3.62 eV).

This means that it takes only 1.52 eV of energy to donate one of the sodium electrons to chlorine when they are far apart.

When the resultant ions are brought closer together, their electric potential energy becomes more and more negative, reaching -1.52 eV at about 0.94 nm separation.

This means that if neutral sodium and chlorine atoms found themselves closer than 0.94 nm, it would be energetically favorable to transfer an electron from Na to Cl .

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