Give reasons for the following:
(i) is immiscible in water, whereas is easily hydrolyzed.
(ii) Carbon has a strong tendency for catenation compared to silicon.
(i) is a compound that is unable to form H bonds with water as it is a polar compound. It is insoluble, and carbon does not have d orbital and cannot take in any extra electrons from the oxygen molecule. If the central atom cannot take in lone pair of electrons, then it cannot be hydrolyzed. can undergo hydrolysis as it can accept a lone pair of electrons.
(ii) As the atomic size increases, the bond dissociation energy decreases, and since carbon has a size much smaller than silicon, then the dissociation energy of carbon is higher. Thus the carbon bonds are stronger and higher tendency for catenation than silicon.