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Questions tagged [electron-affinity]

The amount of energy released when an electron is added to a species in the gaseous phase to form a negative ion. Not to be confused with [ionization-energy].

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3 answers
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Why is electron gain generally exothermic?

I understand that we need to supply energy to counter the nuclear attraction when we remove electrons, and that is the reason why ionization energy is endothermic. However, why does an atom release ...
SMcCK's user avatar
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Why does chlorine have a higher electron affinity than fluorine?

Since fluorine has its valence electrons in the n=2 energy level, and since chlorine has its valence electrons in the n=3 energy level, one would initially expect that an electron rushing towards ...
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Why do alkali metals have an exothermic electron affinity?

Alkali metals should have positive electron gain enthalpies as they are electropositive elements and also their atomic sizes are larger in their periods so they should be reluctant to take electrons ...
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Are 1st Electron Affinities positive or negative?

According to this ChemistryLibretexts website and this StackExchange answer, 1st electron affinites are negative and 2nd electron affinities are positive. However, according to this Study.com ...
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Why is the first electron affinity exothermic and successive ones endothermic?

I am having trouble wrapping my head around electron affinities. And the textbook explanations aren't very helpful. So, the textbook says that the 1st electron affinity is generally exothermic. The ...
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22 votes
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Are there any major exceptions when comparing electron affinity?

I was tasked with figuring out whether carbon or nitrogen has a more negative electron affinity value. I initially picked nitrogen, just because nitrogen has a higher $Z_\mathrm{eff}$, creating a ...
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9 votes
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Why does oxygen not like to be a double anion?

The electron affinity of a neutral oxygen atom is −142 kJ (it releases this energy). The electron affinity for the now double anion $\ce{O^2-}$ is 710 kJ (work must be done on the atom). My question ...
Cactus BAMF's user avatar
7 votes
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Why is there not a strict correspondence between electronegativity and ionic character?

Why is the Electronegativity difference for atoms in bonding uncertain while determining what the compound will be? According to the IB(International Baccalaureate) they say that the ...
Bored915's user avatar
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Is there a relation between the ionization energy and the electron affinity?

I am aware of the definition and equation of IE and EA. I was wondering if there is a direct relation between this two quantities with the energy of the neutral specie.
ziulfer's user avatar
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If Oxygen has a lower electron affinity than Sulfur, then why doesn't sulfur has a lower electron affinity than selenium?

I've read that oxygen has a lower electron affinity (as shown the picture below), because it has a smaller atomic radius than sulfur and thus the electrons experience significant electron-electron ...
BlueMagic1923's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
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What exactly is lattice energy?

I was going through my chemistry textbook (Chemistry, 10th Ed. by Raymond Chang) when I encountered this explanation of lattice energy. 9.3 Lattice Energy of Ionic Compounds We can predict which ...
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Which atom goes in the middle of a lewis dot structure?

I've read online in multiple sites that the least electronegative atom goes in the middle with the exception of H, which always goes on the outside. However, in the molecule NaCN, C is in the middle. ...
Vedaad Shakib's user avatar
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2 answers
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Why do atoms have electron Affinity? [duplicate]

Atoms are stable so how can they pull electrons i.e how do they have any electron affinity at all?
uddhav saikia's user avatar
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While electrolyzing concentrated aqueous sodium chloride, why is it that chlorine is discharged but not sodium?

Hydrogen and hydroxide both exceed sodium and chlorine in terms of reduction and oxidation potential respectively. While electrolyzing a concentrated solution of aqueous NaCl, it is known that ...
Vatsal Manot's user avatar