The Chemical Bond in Inorganic Chemistry

This book shows how chemical properties arise naturally from the conflict between the constraints of chemistry and those of three-dimensional space. Accessible to anyone with secondary school knowledge of chemistry and physics, the bond valence model is widely used for analysing and modelling the structures and properties of solids and liquids.

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The bond valence model, a description of acid-base bonding, is widely used for analysing and modelling the structures and properties of solids and liquids. Unlike other models of inorganic chemical bonding, the bond valence model is simple, intuitive, and predictive, and is accessible to anyone with a pocket calculator and a secondary school command of chemistry and physics. This new edition of 'The Chemical Bond in Inorganic Chemistry: The Bond Valence Model' shows how chemical properties arise naturally from the conflict between the constraints of chemistry and those of three-dimensional space. The book derives the rules of the bond valence model, as well as those of the traditional covalent, ionic and popular VSEPR models, by identifying the chemical bond with the electrostatic flux linking the bonded atoms. Most of the new edition is devoted to showing how to apply these ideas to real materials including crystals, liquids, glasses and surfaces. The work includes detailed examples of applications, and the final chapter explores the relationship between the flux and quantum theories of the bond.