10/02/2024
ATOMIC RADIUS
The atomic radius of a chemical element is a measure of the size of its atom, usually the mean or typical distance from the center of the nucleus to the outermost isolated electron. Since the boundary is not a well-defined physical entity, there are various non-equivalent definitions of atomic radius.
Four widely used definitions of atomic radius are: Van der Waals radius,
ionic radius,
metallic radius and
covalent radius.
Typically, because of the difficulty to isolate atoms in order to measure their radii separately, atomic radius is measured in a chemically bonded state; however theoretical calculations are simpler when considering atoms in isolation.
