Log out Go to App
Go to App

Learning Materials

Features

Discover

Chapter 8: Problem 57

(a) Define electron affinity. Electron affinity is usually measured with atoms in the gaseous state. Why? (b) Ionization energy is always a positive quantity, whereas electron affinity may be either positive or negative. Explain.

Short Answer

Expert verified
(a) Electron affinity is the energy released when an electron is added to a neutral atom to form a negative ion. It is measured in the gaseous state for isolation from influence of neighboring atoms. (b) Ionization energy is always positive because energy is required to remove an electron from an atom. Electron affinity may be positive or negative depending on whether the process of adding an electron releases or absorbs energy.

Step by step solution

01

Definition of electron affinity

Electron affinity is defined as the amount of energy released when an electron is added to a neutral atom to form a negative ion.
02

Reason for gaseous state measurements

Measurements of electron affinity are usually carried out with atoms in the gaseous state because in this state, atoms are isolated from each other, and there is no influence from neighboring atoms as in liquid or solid state. This allows for a simpler and more precise measurement of the energy change.
03

Ionization energy

Ionization energy refers to the minimum energy required to remove the most loosely bound electron, the valence electron, from a neutral atom to form a positive ion. It always requires energy input to remove an electron from an atom, hence, it's always a positive quantity.
04

Variability of electron affinity

Electron affinity may be positive or negative because it depends on the specific atom in question. When an electron is added to an atom, it could either release energy (resulting in a negative electron affinity), or absorb energy (resulting in a positive electron affinity), depending on the existing electron configuration and the stability of the resulting ion.

Unlock Step-by-Step Solutions & Ace Your Exams!

  • Full Textbook Solutions

    Get detailed explanations and key concepts

  • Unlimited Al creation

    Al flashcards, explanations, exams and more...

  • Ads-free access

    To over 500 millions flashcards

  • Money-back guarantee

    We refund you if you fail your exam.

Start your free trial

Over 30 million students worldwide already upgrade their learning with Vaia!

One App. One Place for Learning.

All the tools & learning materials you need for study success - in one app.

Get started for free

Most popular questions from this chapter

Based on your knowledge of the chemistry of the alkali metals, predict some of the chemical properties of francium, the last member of the group.

State whether each of these properties of the representative elements generally increases or decreases (a) from left to right across a period and (b) from top to bottom in a group: metallic character, atomic size, ionization energy, acidity of oxides.

Define valence electrons. For representative elements, the number of yalence electrons of an element is equal to its group number. Show that this is true for the following elements: \(\mathrm{Al}, \mathrm{Sr}, \mathrm{K}, \mathrm{Br}, \mathrm{P}, \mathrm{S}, \mathrm{C}\).

Use the alkali metals and alkaline earth metals as examples to show how we can predict the chemical properties of elements simply from their electron configurations.

Give three examples of first-row transition metal (Sc to \(\mathrm{Cu}\) ) ions whose electron configurations are represented by the argon core.
See all solutions

Recommended explanations on Chemistry Textbooks

Ionic and Molecular Compounds

Read Explanation

Making Measurements

Read Explanation

Kinetics

Read Explanation

Chemistry Branches

Read Explanation

The Earths Atmosphere

Read Explanation

Chemical Analysis

Read Explanation
View all explanations

What do you think about this solution?

We value your feedback to improve our textbook solutions.

Study anywhere. Anytime. Across all devices.

Sign-up for free