JEE Main Chemistry question

C and Si belong to group 14. The maximum coordination number of carbon in commonly occurring compounds is 4, whereas that of silicon is 6. This is due to:

(A)Large size of silicon
(B)Availability of vacant -orbitals in siliconCorrect
(C)More electropositive nature of silicon
(D)Silicon being vulnerable to attack by nucleophiles

Answer: (B)

Solution

Silicon, in period 3, has accessible vacant orbitals that allow it to expand its coordination number beyond 4 (as in ); carbon, in period 2, has no orbitals at all and is

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Question ID VK-138894