Which of the following has the larger ionic size: Sulfur or chlorine? Why?
We shall be happy to critique your thoughts.
To determine which has the larger ionic size between sulfur (S) and chlorine (Cl), we need to consider the periodic trends in the periodic table.
Ionic size generally follows the trend across a period and down a group in the periodic table. Across a period from left to right, the ionic size decreases because of an increase in effective nuclear charge (number of protons) that attracts the electrons more strongly. Down a group, the ionic size increases because of the addition of new electron shells.
Sulfur and chlorine are both nonmetals located in Period 3 of the periodic table. Since chlorine is to the right of sulfur in Period 3, we would expect chlorine to have a smaller ionic size.
Therefore, chlorine has a larger ionic size compared to sulfur because it is located lower in the periodic table, down the group, which leads to the addition of electron shells and an overall increase in atomic size.