Thursday, August 2, 2018

terminology - What makes a radical 'free'?


The qualifier 'free' seems to be ubiquitously attached to discussion of radicals as highly reactive species with unpaired spins. What, precisely (or imprecisely, as the case may be) does 'free' really mean?


Free as in free speech? Free beer? Freedom of movement? Kinetic accessibility?




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periodic trends - Comparing radii in lithium, beryllium, magnesium, aluminium and sodium ions

Apparently the of last four, $\ce{Mg^2+}$ is closest in radius to $\ce{Li+}$. Is this true, and if so, why would a whole larger shell ($\ce{...