Question

Which of the following bonds is the strongest?
(A) F-F
(B) I-I
(C) Cl-Cl
(D) Br-Br

Answer 1

Hint: A chemical bond is attraction between atoms, ions or molecules that makes formation of compounds necessary. The bond may result from the electrostatic force of attraction between oppositely charged ions or through the sharing of electrons as in covalent bonds.

Complete Step by step solution:
Fluorine, Chlorine, Bromine and Iodine are the group 17 elements. They are known as halogens as they produce salts by combining with other elements. They produce a variety of salts by combining with metals.
F-F bond: This bond is a weak bond because the repulsion between the lone electron pairs of the two fluorine atoms is huge. Also, the ionization energy of fluorine is very low and hence it can react easily with other elements and break the F-F bond. The bond length between the two F atoms is more compared to the other group 17 atoms. This also makes the F-F bond, a weak bond.
Cl-Cl bond: The chlorine-chlorine bond is the strongest because of the smallest bond length compared to all the other halogen elements. We can say that chlorine-chlorine has the strongest bond due to
Bond length: Due to stronger bond and lesser repulsion, the bond length gets small.
Electronegativity of chlorine is highest among all the members of group 17, that is why it forms a stronger bond.
Attraction of electrons towards each other: More the electrons are attracted, stronger is the bond formed.
Hence, the strongest bond is the Cl-Cl bond. Therefore, the correct answer is option C.

Note:
Halogens form strong acids. This is because they can donate protons very easily in an aqueous solution. They are used as disinfectants and are also used to manufacture halogen lamps. Halogens also used water, chemicals and sanitation. They are used as bleaching agents.