A-level Chemistry/OCR (Salters)/Halogens
Gallery
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Cl2(g) in a gas jar -
gaseous chlorine consists of separate diatomic Cl2 molecules -
crystals of I2(s) -
solid iodine consists of very closely packed I2 molecules
Diatomic halogen molecules
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d(X−X) / pm (solid phase) |
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Fluorine
[edit | edit source]Fluorine is the most electronegative element in the periodic table, and is also the most reactive. Flourine is a special case as Fluorine has anomalous properties due to its small size. It has a lower electron affinity than Chlorine due to electron repulsions in the overcrowded outer shell. However, it is a stronger oxidising agent than Chlorine due to its unusually low bond energy. This is due to the repulsions between outer electrons in the F2 molecule.