Current question

[New-ideas]

I've just started my A Level Physics course among others, and we've begun with basics on current flow. Now I already get most of the principles behind it, but I was wondering can covalently bonded compounds conduct electricity at very high voltage levels? It'd be useful for my notes, I understand that because of the way the electrons are bonded that normal voltage levels have no effect on them, as the forces acting on the electron within the atom are to great for the atom to break free, but will they at a high enough voltage level?

Thanks in advance

[modest]

This question is more complicated than you probably think. The answer can get so complex as to involve the speed of light and quantum mechanics.

 

But, for a first year chemistry or physics student, I would say this:

 

No compound is 100% ionic or covalent. Atoms just don’t obey the rules that well. It is more like a graph where element-element bonds are a percentage ionic or covalent by how electronegative they are. So, to say “this compound Cl^2 will not conduct electricity because it is covalent” is mostly correct but also definitely wrong. Covalent compounds will conduct electricity. But, for the reasons you outlined - they are nowhere near as good at it as ionic compounds.

 

Also, even if the perfect covalent compound could be created with no free electrons - it still would have the ability to conduct electricity. Even the vacuum of space (which is the best insulation available) has a small propensity to conduct electricity.

 

If this is of any interest I would suggest googeling ‘dielectric’ or ‘static permittivity’. You’ll find a lot of information that I’ve not touched on at all.

 

-modest