May I know if silicon dioxide, (sand) is considered "soft"?
Silicon dioxide is considered hard. The main component of glass is SiO2.
Eh...no leh...what I know is that most carbides, nitrides, oxides are extremely hard.
That ofcourse includes SiO2?
Oh yah...notwithstanding the internal defects/dislocations/inclusions/porosity inside glass ofcourse.
Pure SiO2 would be pretty hard.
well
its definately not as ''soft'' as sodium.
xS
Silicon dioxide has a tetrahedral structure like a diamond's, that's why it's hard right?
Originally posted by qdtimes2:Silicon dioxide has a tetrahedral structure like a diamond's, that's why it's hard right?
no, because it has strong intramolecular bonds, like diamonds.
Originally posted by yiha093:no, because it has strong intramolecular bonds, like diamonds.
should be because of the extensive bonds in the compound that attributes to its hardness. because all covalent bonds have strong covalent bonds between atoms in a molecule. yet a lot of covalent compounds are weak because what is usually broken instead is the vdw forces.