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Chapter 8: Problem 75

Why do elements that have high ionization energies usually have more positive electron affinities?

Short Answer

Expert verified
Elements with high ionization energies usually have more positive electron affinities because both properties reveal an atom's ability to attract electrons. Atoms with high ionization energies strongly hold onto their own electrons, and this strength manifests as a high electron affinity when they attract additional electrons.

Step by step solution

01

Understand Ionization Energy

Ionization energy is the energy required to remove an electron from an atom or ion. It tells us how strongly an atom holds onto its electrons. The greater the ionization energy, the harder it is to remove an electron from an atom.
02

Understand Electron Affinity

Electron affinity, on the other hand, is a measure of how strongly an atom can attract a spare electron. It is the energy change when an electron is added to a neutral atom to form a negative ion. A more positive electron affinity means a more negative energy change, and thus a greater attraction for an extra electron.
03

Putting the two together

Elements with high ionization energies tend to have more positive electron affinities because both of these properties are related to the strength of attraction an atom has for electrons. Elements that strongly hold onto their own electrons (high ionization energy) tend also to be good at attracting extra electrons (more positive electron affinity), because in both cases, the atom’s electromagnetic field is strong and pulls electrons towards its nucleus.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

In the late 1800 s the British physicist Lord Rayleigh accurately determined the atomic masses of a number of elements, but he obtained a puzzling result with nitrogen. One of his methods of preparing nitrogen was by the thermal decomposition of ammonia: \( 2 \mathrm{NH}_{3}(g) \longrightarrow \mathrm{N}_{2}(g)+3 \mathrm{H}_{2}(g) \) Another method was to start with air and remove oxygen, carbon dioxide, and water vapor from it. Invariably, the nitrogen from air was a little denser (by about 0.5 percent) than the nitrogen from ammonia. Later the English chemist Sir William Ramsay carried out an experiment in which he passed nitrogen, which he had obtained from air by Raleigh's procedure, over red-hot magnesium to convert it to magnesium nitride: \(3 \mathrm{Mg}(s)+\mathrm{N}_{2}(g) \longrightarrow \mathrm{Mg}_{3} \mathrm{~N}_{2}(s)= \)= After all of the nitrogen had reacted with magnesium, Ramsay was left with an unknown gas that would not combine with anything. The atomic mass of this gas was determined to be 39.95 amu. Ramsay called the gas argon, which means "the lazy one" in Greek. (a) Later Rayleigh and Ramsay, with the help of Sir William Crookes, the inventor of the discharge tube, showed that argon was a new element. Describe the type of experiment performed that led them to the conclusion. (b) Why did it take so long to discover argon? (c) Once argon had been discovered, why did it take relatively little time to discover the rest of the noble gases? (d) Why was helium the last noble gas to be discovered on Earth? (e) The only confirmed compound of radon is radon fluoride, \(\mathrm{RnF}\). Give two reasons why there are so few known radon compounds.

As a group, the noble gases are very stable chemically (only Kr and Xe are known to form some compounds). Why?

What is a representative element? Give names and symbols of four representative elements.

The \(\mathrm{H}^{-}\) ion and the He atom have two \(1 \mathrm{~s}\) electrons each. Which of the two species is larger? Explain.

Write ground-state electron configurations for these ions, which play important roles in biochemical processes in our bodies: (a) \(\mathrm{Na}^{+},\) (b) \(\mathrm{Mg}^{2+},\) (c) \(\mathrm{Cl}^{-}\) (d) \(\mathrm{K}^{+},\) (e) \(\mathrm{Ca}^{2+},\) (f) \(\mathrm{Fe}^{2+},(\mathrm{g}) \mathrm{Cu}^{2+},\) (h) \(\mathrm{Zn}^{2+}\)
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