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Chapter 94 of 2363 min read

Periodic trends: radius, ionisation enthalpy, electron gain enthalpy, electronegativity

Why this is asked: Chlorine, not fluorine, has the most negative electron gain enthalpy in its group — fluorine's small size packs the incoming electron into an already-crowded 2p subshell, offsetting its higher electronegativity. Ionisation enthalpy also dips at boron (below Be) and at oxygen (below N), because removing an electron from a filled 2s² or half-filled 2p³ costs extra — the "always rises across a period" rule breaks at exactly these two points.

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