What is meant by covalent radius of the atom? Explain with suitable examples.
Answer»
In the case of nonmetals (except noble gases), the atoms of an element are bonded to each other by covalent bonds.
Bond length of a single bond is taken as sum of radii of the two single bonded atoms. This is called covalent radius of the atom.
For example: Bond length of C-C bond in diamond is 154 pm. Therefore, atomic radius of carbon is estimated to be 77 pm which is half of bond length (\(\frac{1}{2}\) × 154 = 77).