Hey everybody! In today's blog post, we'll address these subjects:
Why Francium is the biggest element with the lowest IE and EN
Why Helium is the smallest element with the highest IE
Why Noble Gases don't have EN values
Why Fluorine has the highest EN
First off, let's define IE and EN:
Ionization energy means how much energy it takes to remove an electron from an atom, forming a cation.
Electronegativity is how well an atom attracts electrons to itself; the ability to gain electrons.
1) Francium is the biggest element with the lowest Ionization Energy and Electronegativity because it is in the 7th period, which has the most shells out of all the other periods. However, within the 7th period, Francium has the least amount of protons pulling it in. It's so big, you can easily pull electrons away, because there's weak attraction with the nucleus. On the other hand, it is very difficult for Francium to take electrons from other atoms.
2) Helium is the smallest element with the highest Ionization Energy because it has only one valence shell, but it has 2 protons which pull in the electrons tighter. It has the highest Ionization energy because the high attraction with the nucleus makes it really hard to remove electrons.
3) Noble Gases don't have Electronegativity values because their valence electron shells are full with 8 electrons, which means they are unreactive with other atoms. They don't attract or gain electrons at all. Every atom wants to get 8 electrons to fill their shell, but Noble Gases already have full shells, so they don't want any more electrons.
4) Fluorine has the highest Electronegativity because it has 7 valence electrons; it only needs 1 more electron to have a full shell. It's also the smallest Halogen, which means it's good at attracting electrons to its nucleus.
