CHXI11:THE P-BLOCK ELEMENTS
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The stability of dihalides of \(\mathrm{Si}, \mathrm{Ge}, \mathrm{Sn}\) and \(\mathrm{Pb}\) increases steadily in the sequence
1 \(\mathrm{PbX}_{2} < < \mathrm{SnX}_{2} < < \mathrm{GeX}_{2} < < \mathrm{SiX}_{2}\)
2 \(\mathrm{SiX}_{2} < < \mathrm{GeX}_{2} < < \mathrm{SnX}_{2} < < \mathrm{PbX}_{2}\)
3 \(\mathrm{GeX}_{2} < < \mathrm{SiX}_{2} < < \mathrm{SnX}_{2} < < \mathrm{PbX}_{2}\)
4 \(\mathrm{SiX}_{2} < < \mathrm{GeX}_{2} < < \mathrm{PbX}_{2} < < \mathrm{SnX}_{2}\)
Explanation:
Inert pair effect becomes more predominant down the group and hence, the stability of dihalides increases down the group, i.e., option (2) is correct.