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Sodium and chlorine are both in Period 3 - VCE - SSCE Chemistry - Question 16 - 2005 - Paper 1
Question 16
Sodium and chlorine are both in Period 3. You would expect sodium to have A. the lower ionisation energy and the lower electronegativity. B. the higher ionisation ... show full transcript
Worked Solution & Example Answer:Sodium and chlorine are both in Period 3 - VCE - SSCE Chemistry - Question 16 - 2005 - Paper 1
Step 1
the lower ionisation energy and the lower electronegativity.
Answer
Sodium is a metal located in Group 1 of the periodic table, which means it has a lower ionization energy compared to non-metals like chlorine. As we move across Period 3 from left to right, ionization energy tends to increase due to increasing nuclear charge, but sodium, being in Group 1, will inherently have a lower ionization energy.
Furthermore, electronegativity also decreases as we go down the groups in the periodic table, and since sodium is a metal, it has lower electronegativity compared to chlorine, which is a non-metal and situated further to the right in Period 3. Thus, sodium exhibits both lower ionization energy and lower electronegativity relative to chlorine.