It’s important to remember that, so you’ll know that electron affinities deal exclusively with negative ions of atoms and that their use is almost always relegated to the elements found within groups 16 and 17 of the element table. Ionization energies deal with the formation of positive ions while electron affinities deal with the formation of negative ions. The energy of an atom has can be gained or lost through chemical reactions, so these chemical reactions form either anions or cations. Positively charged atoms are called cations while negatively charged ions are called anions. Ions of atoms may have a net positive charge or a net negative charge. In other words, the greater an element’s tendency to gain electrons, the more reactive the element is. Reactivity and electron affinity are tightly correlated, with the reactivity of an element increasing as the electron affinity increases. Elements that have only one electron in their valence shell, like alkali metals, or are missing a single electron in the shell (like halogens) are the most reactive elements. The electrons in the valence shell are known as valence electrons, and they are the electrons most capable of bonding with other atoms to create chemicals bonds and molecules.Įlements that have complete valence shells, like the noble gases, are stable and chemically non-reactive. The outermost layer of the electron shells is known as the valence shell, and it’s usually the only layer that matters in chemistry. The electrons orbit the nucleus of the atom, and they orbit in multiple layers known as shells. “We’re protons and electrons/ Residing in one nucleus.” - AfeefaĮlectrons are about 1800 times smaller than either neutrons or protons, and they have a negative charge. The neutrons are used as a point of comparison to find the mass of electrons and protons. The neutrons within the atom have no charge, hence their neutrality. The number of protons within an atom is the element’s atomic number. The protons in the atom are positively charged, and the number of protons found within the nucleus basically defines what element an atom is.
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