Electron

Affinity
is defined as the energy
process in which an electron
is acquired by the atom in
the gas phase
Electron affinity...
More info...
The larger the affinity of an atom for
an electron, the more negative the
value
Electron affinity trends are related
to the trends of ionization energy
because both represent the energy
involved in the gain or loss of an
electron by an atom, respectively
The trend down the column...
Electron affinity
decreases as it
goes down a column
This is because...
Electrons are added increasingly
farther from the nucleus, so the
attractive force between the nucleus
and electrons decreases
The outer electrons experience less
of a positive charge as you go up the
periodic table (effective nuclear
charge)
The trend across a period...
Electron affinity
increases as it
goes across a period
This is because...
The octet rule states that atoms with
close to full valence shells will tend to
gain electrons. When they gain the
electrons, they use energy, which
allows the ion to become more stable
The outer electrons experience less
of a positive charge as you go across
a period (effective nuclear charge)

Units of EA
KJ/Mol
** electron affinity is negative
Exceptions...
Nitrogen atoms have no affinity
- in N
-
ions, electron-electron repulsion
makes these ions unstable
Beryllium anion has no affinity
- Be
-
is not stable, because the added
electron is assigned to a higher energy
subshell (2p) than the valence electrons
(2s)

More Exceptions...
Noble gases have no affinity
- they have full valence shells and by
adding or taking away electrons, they
become unstable
Fluorine has a low affinity
- because it has a small amount of shells
and when you add another electron,
electron-electron repulsion happens,
creating an unstable ion