[CSA]

Hello everybody. I have some questions I will post without further ado.

1. Au has 1 valence electron, and the same goes for Na. Can Au and Na be considered radicals (in the form which they appear in the periodic table)?

2. Radicals are highly reactive; but this doesn't seem to be the case for Au, as you can find big lumps of gold naturally, and practically every text book states that gold is not very reactive at all. I am assuming that this is because an Au-atom shares its valence electron with all the other Au-atoms in the compound. Is my assumption correct? If no, please elaborate.

3. If the answer to question 2 is yes, why is it that you cannot find pure Na in nature? I went ahead and assumed this after googling it.

4. This question is easier to ask if you follow the following steps:

- Go to http://www.colby.edu/chemistry/OChem/DEMOS/MassSpec.html
- Click on the animation window to start the animation
- Click on the ionization chamber (where it says 50-70 eV)
- Click on continue 3 times

If a molecule loses two electrons, how is it that it is still a radical cation, and not just a cation? I can imagine that the two electrons might be picked off from different locations in the electron cloud, but wouldn't the two remaining lone electrons in the ion pair together?

5. I am supposed to predict the ratio between the relative areas under the chemical shifts using ¹H-NMR spectroscopy on CH₃-CH₂Cl, which I found to be 2:1 (From CH₃:From CH₂). The answer is supposed to be 3:2, which, after an hour of work, still doesn't make sense to me.

All constructive replies will be highly appreciated.

[enahs]

Where do you get Au has 1 valance electron?!!!!

[CSA]

Where do you get Au has 1 valance electron?!!!!

From my periodic table. Am I wrong?

[enahs]

It commonly only forms +1 ions, but it by no means has only 1 valance electron.

[CSA]

It commonly only forms +1 ions, but it by no means has only 1 valance electron.

I just double-double-checked that Au in fact has only 1 valence electron. Valence electrons are the electrons in the outermost shell of an atom; are you sure that you aren't confusing it with something else?

Edit: You might be right, and you are probably more qualified than myself and most of the internet, but most of the internet and myself disagree, so I'm going to wait for a second opinion on this one before I possibly draw the wrong conclusion.

[enahs]

NO, most of the internet does not agree.

Just searching "silver valence electrons" and you get this if you do not wish to believe me:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080327135829AA6jdpj

You are completely confusing valence electrons and ion charge. You need to go back and look up the two in much more detail.

[rabolisk]

1. You don't normally consider metals like Na or Au radicals, because Na radical as a discrete particle does not exist. Usually when we talk about radicals, we talk about covalent intermediates that are formed.

2. Gold only has 1 valence electron in its outermost shell (6s), so in that sense gold is like sodium. But gold is a transition metal with a completely filled d-shell (5d), unlike sodium. My understanding of inorganic chemistry is limited, so someone else with more expertise can answer exactly the difference between Au and Na.

5. You should have a 3:2 ratio unless your product is not chloroethane.