Q.Define covalent solids.
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Start your 14-day free trial to unlock the full solution →In a covalent solid, every atom in the crystal is joined to its neighbours by covalent bonds extending throughout the lattice, so the entire crystal behaves as one giant macromolecule; examples include diamond, quartz, and carborundum.
Unlike molecular solids (built of discrete molecules held together by weak van der Waals/dipole forces), a covalent or network solid has no separate molecular units — the covalent bonding is continuous in all directions through the crystal, so the whole crystal is effectively a single giant molecule. Diamond is the classic example: each carbon atom is -hybridised and covalently bonded to four neighbouring carbons in a 3-D tetrahedral network. Quartz () and silicon carbide (carborundum, SiC) are other examples, and graphite is a 2-D (layered) covalent network solid. Because breaking the crystal means breaking strong covalent bonds (not just weak intermolecular forces), co …
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