Electron affinity is the energy released when an atom absorbs an electron. Attracting an electron requires energy, and elements in groups 6 and 7 are more likely to attract electrons. Heavier atoms have lower electron affinity, and oxygen and sulfur can attract two more electrons. Atoms have protons, neutrons, and electrons, with the number of protons equaling the atomic number.
Electron affinity is the measure of the energy released when a neutral atom absorbs an electron. Absorbing an additional electron requires energy because a negatively charged particle does not naturally attract a neutral atom. Elements in groups 6 and 7 of the periodic table are more likely to attract an additional electron or two.
To attract one more electron orbiting its nucleus, an atom must release energy. The measure of this energy is written as a negative number because the atom gives off energy and therefore has a network of energy loss. Atoms that give off less energy when they attract an additional electron are said to have lower electron affinity and are more likely to lose more electrons.
The measure of electron affinity is lower in atoms with higher molecular weight. Part of the reason for this is that heavier atoms naturally contain more electrons to balance with the number of protons in the nucleus. With many electrons orbiting the nucleus of an atom, a free electron has a better chance of being rejected by the atom.
The extra electrons are drawn into the outermost electron orbital in an atom. The greater outer orbital distance in atoms with a higher molecular weight has no effect on an atom’s ability to attract these electrons, although the higher molecular weight atoms have a lower measure of electron affinity. All group 7 atoms exude an attraction of +7 regardless of the number of electrons already in orbit. Likewise, all group 6 atoms exude an attraction of +6. This is because an electron is attracted by the number of protons in the nucleus minus the number of electrons in all lower orbitals.
Oxygen and sulfur are able to attract two more electrons into their orbits. This is unusual because a negatively charged atom requires a large amount of energy to attract another negative particle. These elements have high electron affinity and are the only two elements known to commonly exist with a charge of -2.
An atom is composed of positively and negatively charged particles as well as uncharged particles. The nucleus of an atom contains protons, which have a positive charge, and neutrons, which have no charge. The number of protons in an atom equals the atomic number of that atom, meaning that every atom of the same kind contains the same number of protons. Individual atoms can have more or fewer neutrons or electrons than each other, although most atoms maintain a balance of positive and negative particles.
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