Farmerism said:
just wondering for the equations that we have to use concerning CFCs depleting the ozone layer, what is the difference between the dot that siginifes a free radical and a dash that signifies a negative charge in say the chlorine free radical or ion.
they have both react in the same way don't they?
thats exactly the difference the dot says it is a radical, one electron away from a complete outer shell, these radicals (atoms) are rarely found in nature because they react so readily. on the other hand you have chlorine ions which are completely different to Cl radicals because these ions have a full valence shell so are extremely stable (they have no reason to react)
remember Cl radicals have no charge
also you dont have to have the dot, you can just leave it as say Cl, without the dot, it makes things much more simple.
