Calculation of Madelung constants in the first year chemistry course

Oct 1, 1986 - Calculation of Madelung constants in the first year chemistry course. Mark Elert and Edward Koubek. J. Chem. Educ. , 1986, 63 (10), ... ...
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Table 1. EHed ot lncreaslng Cube Size on the Calculated Madelung Constant for the NaCl LaHlce Ions per cube side

~adelunjlConstant

Percent Enor

2

1.45603 1.56654 1.62672 1.65493 1.67361 1.68501 1.69391

16.7 10.4

1.74756

on

3 4

5 6 7 6

...

-

.. .

6.6

5.3 4.2

3.6 3.1

...

Figwe 5. Onedimensional anangemem of f w r NaCl units

Calculation of Madelung Constants In the First Year Chemistry Course Mark Elert and Edward Koubek US. Naval Academy Annapolis. MD 21402 Figure 6. Cublc arrangement of four NaCl units

One of the most important topics in anv. beginning chemistry course is bonding. ~ n f o r t k a t e many l~ students are left bewildered by the quantum mechanics required to explain the formation of eovalent bonds and simply accept their professor's word that the sharing of electron pairs results in bond formation. This need not he the case ?or ionic bonding, as most students can visualize the simole conceots involvine electron transfer followed by ~ o u l o ~ hattrktion ic of theresulting ions. We first have the students consider four NaClunits in a linear array, as shown in Figure 5. The total potential energy associated with this arrangement of ions can be summed as follows:

magnitude of the coefficient in this potential energy expression, so we would say that the Madelung constant for an infinite one-dimensional NaCl crystal is 1.39. Of course, real crystals are not one-dimensional. This must mean that the potential energy can he lowered further by arranging the ions in a three-dimensional rather than a one-dimensional array. T o investigate this we again consider a system of four NaCl molecules, but now in a three-dimensional array as shown in Figure 6. The change in potential energy due to ionic bonding in this arrangement can he calculated as follows:

Dividing by four yields a change in potential energy per NaCl unit of -1.27e2/ro. Such an arrangement is 27% more favorahle than the simple molecular form for which the potential energy is simpiy -e2/ro. Clearly the same calculation applied to an infinite chain of NaCl units would lower the ene& still further. The ootential enerev can actuallv he evaluated quite easily in this case by summing the appropriate infinite series analvticallv" (3). . .. and the result is -1.39e2/m per NaCl unit. The ~ a d e l u nconstant ~ is defined as the

Dividing by four now gives a change in potential energy per NaCl unit of -1.46 e2/ro. At this point most students are willing toaccept the fact that, if one were to ronsidera much larger number of NaCl units in a three-dimensional array, one could arrive at a final value of -1,747558 e2/r... In fact. convergence of the method descrihed here is quite rapid: With a simole comouter oroeram. students can easilv calculate the ~adelungcons