Question

Despite lower value of its electron gain enthalpy with negative sign, fluorine (F2) is a stronger oxidising agent than Cl2. [Delhi 2019; AI 2012; DoE]

Answer 1

Answer:

In addition, its small size, the hydration energy of fluorine is much higher than that of chlorine. So, the latter two factors more than compensate for the less negative electron gain enthalpy of fluorine. Thus, fluorine is a much stronger oxidizing agent than chlorine.