Question

the electron gain enthalpy of oxygen is highly negative while that of nitrogen is slightly positive. comment on this statement

Answer 1

oxygen tries to gain 2electrons to get stability.
it id ready to accept the electron. so when we add electron it releases more energy .so electron gain enthalpy of oxygen is more negative.


whereas nitrogen has half- filled configuration (stable configuration) .so it is not ready gain a electron .so when we add an electron,more energy is required .so it is slightly positive (nearly zero as it is stable and won't accept electron.)