Which property describes catenation?

Prepare for the Microbial Metabolism Test. Utilize flashcards and multiple choice questions with helpful hints and detailed explanations. Ace your test with ease!

Multiple Choice

Which property describes catenation?

Catenation is the tendency of an element to bond to itself and form extended chains or rings. This is best illustrated by carbon, whose covalent C–C bonds allow countless long chains and branched polymers, from plastics to the backbone of DNA and many proteins. The other options describe different properties: a high melting point comes from overall bonding strength and structure, ionic bonding strength concerns bonds between different ions, and magnetic properties relate to electron configurations and magnetic ordering. The defining idea of catenation is precisely the formation of long chains and polymers.

Catenation is the tendency of an element to bond to itself and form extended chains or rings. This is best illustrated by carbon, whose covalent C–C bonds allow countless long chains and branched polymers, from plastics to the backbone of DNA and many proteins. The other options describe different properties: a high melting point comes from overall bonding strength and structure, ionic bonding strength concerns bonds between different ions, and magnetic properties relate to electron configurations and magnetic ordering. The defining idea of catenation is precisely the formation of long chains and polymers.

More practice questions