JEE Advanced levelSingle correct optionDifficulty 3 of 3pt104
In crystalline iodine the I−I bond length is 267pm and the shortest contact between iodine atoms of different molecules is 354pm. Taking the van der Waals radius as half the non-bonded contact distance, the extent to which the two van der Waals spheres of bonded atoms overlap along the bond (i.e. 2rvdW−dI−I) is:
A621pm
B87pm
C267pm
D177pm
Answer: B
rvdW=354/2=177 pm, so the spheres of two bonded atoms span 2rvdW=354 pm if tangent. The bond length is only 267 pm, so they overlap by 354−267=87 pm.