Question

carbonates of 1 group are stable and dont decompose on heating while carbonates of 2 group are unstable and decompose on heating​ why

Answer 1

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Group 1 alkali metal carbonates are thermally stable except Li

2

CO

3

. Li

2

CO

3

decomposes on heating and gives Li

2

O+CO

2

. The easy explanation for this behavior may be stated as, the size of alkali metals increase down the group so Li is the smallest and Cs is the biggest in group 1 . So, now Li

+

ion is small and charge density is high (charge/volume) due to this small size . So it has a strong polarising power and strong polarizing effect of small Li

+

can not stabilize large polarizable CO

3

2−

ion. That's why it is unstable. Going down the group ,the cation size increase and carbonates are stabilized .