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\prob{24}
Solid argon is held together by which of the following bonding mechanisms?

  1. Ionic bond only
  2. Covalent bond only
  3. Partly covalent and partly ionic bond
  4. Metallic bond
  5. van der Waals bond

Atomic}Bonding

Solid Argon is a Nobel gas. It has a full shell of outer electrons, and thus it cannot bond in anything but van der Walls bonding, which isn't really bonding, but more weak like charge-attraction.

One can arrive at this choice by elimination:
(A) Ionic bonding occurs when one atom is a positive ion and the other the compensating negative ion. Since solid Argon isn't an ion, it can't do this.

(B) Covalent bonding occurs when electrons are shared between atoms. This only happens when the atom has unfilled orbitals. (Incidentally, it only occurs when two electrons are of opposite spins due to the Pauli Exclusion Principle. That is, they must have different quantum numbers so that they can both remain stable in a low energy state.)

(C) No partial charge-analysis needed.

(D) Argon isn't a metal.

(E) This is the one that remains.

See below for user comments and alternate solutions! See below for user comments and alternate solutions!
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Comments
-Author
2017-10-20 00:16:59
Is this what my life has come to? Never take this test. You will find yourself so deeply bored to your very core that, like a caged animal gnawing off his own leg for amusement, you will hurt yourself and those you love. The answer to this question is quit now while you still have your sanity and your soul. It\'s option F as in FREE YOURSELFNEC
Argon
2017-10-20 00:12:13
Hey fuck you fuckfuckfucknitin. You don\'t tell me who\'s bitch I am and who I do and don\'t want to go back to. I\'m comin back fuckfucknitin. You my oldest love and I\'ll never forget you. Nitin can be a spiteful ass but he don\'t know any better. I\'ve finally made up my mind fuckfucknitin. I\'m a gas. A noble gas. And I want to be queen and you king and together we will rule over all the plebeians in the comment section. Mwuahahaha. This obscure seldom visited land will be ours!!!!!!!!!!!NEC
livieratos
2011-11-08 12:11:04
well this question sucks... there's absolutely no reason for someone to try and remember what category if argon a part of in the periodic table...
never heard anything about argon besides its name until today...
livieratos
2011-11-08 12:11:40
if = is
djh101
2014-08-29 16:22:02
Maybe I'm a little biased since I majored in chemistry, but you really should know the noble gases, halogens, alkali metals (at least sodium, lithium, and potassium) off the top of your head, or at least be able to recognize them, since they all have the same suffixes; I would say that information is more useful than the historical trivia questions that ETS likes to ask.
NEC
Richard
2007-10-15 18:04:36
Just an interesting note:
Have you heard of the flower Edelweiss?
It's a German flower: small and white, clean and bright...

The German word “edel” refers to nobility or purity. Thus, the German word "edelgas" was used to describe the group of gases that are very stable, i.e., pure I guess, from which we derive our term Noble Gas. It’s not after Alfred or anyone else for that matter. Studying a little German will never hurt a physicist.


Thanks again Yosun!
I take the GRE in a few weeks!
prismofmoonlight
2007-10-31 12:31:32
Thanks for the interesting note, Richard! It's like a fresh breeze to read something other than physics (and yet, still physics related) throughout the drudgery of studying.

I'm taking the exam this Saturday as well-- Best of luck!!
NEC
nitin
2006-11-21 04:12:00
trombone,

I sincerely don't understand where in my comment I showed any sign of disrespect. I quoted what yosun wrote, pointed out his surprising mistake (not typo), and also mentioned the typo (noble). If you take straightforwardness to be a sign of disrespect, then it is your problem, of which I am not reponsible.

On the other hand, you have been quite insulting to take my comment as an expression from someone of the, as defined by you, "complete ass" category. I hope your kind of remark is not "equally acceptable".
hamood
2007-04-02 12:18:14
I thought Yosun was a girl....
a19grey2
2008-10-31 17:01:17
Regardless of gender, I think we can all agree that Yosun is a hardcore badass.
NoPhysicist3
2017-03-23 09:44:14
I love yosun
NEC
nitin
2006-11-19 20:40:03
Hmm.. "Solid Argon is a Nobel gas". Surely no! A solid cannot be a gas. Also, you wrongly spelt "noble".
trombone
2006-11-20 17:38:33
You could have respectfully pointed out the "typos" but I guess being a complete ass is equally acceptable.
Albert
2009-10-20 06:24:20
Yes, absolutely right, this Nitin guy, whoever he is, always acts like a jerk.
Setareh
2011-11-07 11:17:00
I think he was not that much impolite.. But here we all have the same goal, so it is better to make a friendly atmosphere, and don't use some words like ass or jerk.. I wonder.. Physicists should be more pensive people..
fucknitin
2017-10-19 23:50:38
Yea fuck nitin. He\'s all like \"Hmm..\" and \"Surely no!\" and did you hear that shit he said about Argon? I\'m with you Argon. You can be Noble if you want to. \r\n\r\nFuck these arbitrary class distinctions. What is this Medieval times? You\'re solid in my book, Argon! It\'s like this guy\'s never heard of a phase transition. People change, nitin so you can just... just get over it you big bully.
fuckfucknitin
2017-10-20 00:00:55
Fuck fucknitin. Where does that ass get off insultin my boy nitin? We all know Argon\'s a bitch whether or not he\'s a noble gas or only a nobel laureate gas. Always has been no matter how many titles you give the indecisive fuck. It\'s like make up your fucking mind already are you a gas or a solid and don\'t give me that it depends on the temperature shit. Phase transition my ass. How about you transition yourself out of my fucking life you whore...... Oh god she left. Why did she leave? I\'m sorry Argon. You\'ve always been my bottom bitch but I had to protect my boy nitin. Please come back. I just want to be a family again. Me, you, nitin. Remember when used to go to the park and me and nitin would watch and laugh and have a riproarin time while you\'d let some poor fuck breathe you in then turn solid in his lungs? Why can\'t we just go back there? It was all so simple and easy. Please Argon, please come back
fuckfuckfucknitin
2017-10-20 00:05:40
Fuck fuckfucknitin. I\'m with you fucknitin in your quest to fuck nitin so back the fuck off fuckfucknitin. Argon\'s with us now and she don\'t wanna go back. You were oppressive and your boy nitin\'s a spiteful hierarchical fuckface.
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Is this what my life has come to? Never take this test. You will find yourself so deeply bored to your very core that, like a caged animal gnawing off his own leg for amusement, you will hurt yourself and those you love. The answer to this question is quit now while you still have your sanity and your soul. It\'s option F as in FREE YOURSELF

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