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Question

Why do elements on R.H.S. of the periodic table have high electron affinity?

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Solution

As the name suggests, electron affinity is the ability of an atom to accept an electron. Unlike electronegativity, electron affinity is a quantitative measurement of the energy change that occurs when an electron is added to a neutral gas atom. The more negative the electron affinity value, the higher an atom's affinity for electrons.

Moving from left to right across a period, atoms become smaller as the forces of attraction become stronger. This causes the electron to move closer to the nucleus, thus increasing the electron affinity from left to right across a period.
Therefore, R.H.S of periodic table has a high electron affinity.

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