Question

Among noble gases, only xenon reacts with fluorine to form stable xenon fluorides, this is because xenon:

• A. has the highest ionisation enthalpy
• B. has the lowest ionisation enthalpy
• C. has the highest heat of vapourisation
• D. is the most readily available noble gas

Answer 1

Answer: (B)

has the lowest ionisation enthalpy

Ionisation enthalpy decreases on moving down the group and $Xe$ has the lowest ionization enthalpy. This is the reason that stable fluorides for noble gases are reported only with $Xe$.