Question

Rank the following elements by electron affinity, from most positive to most negative EA value. Rank from most positive to most negative. To rank items as equivalent, overlap them. potassium, selenium, argon, iodine, antimony

Answer 1

The electron affinity in the periodic table increases along the period from left to right and decreases along the group from top to bottom .

So according to this , the order of electron affinity of the given elements will be :

I > Se > Sb > K > Ar

Since iodine has one electron less than attaining the noble gas configuration , it has the maximum electron affinity , and argon being the noble gas itself has the least electron affinity approximately 0.