Question

Give reasons : (i)Xenon does not form fluorides such as `XeF_(3) and XeF_(5)`.(ii)Out of noble gases, only xenon is known to form established chemicals compounds.

Answer 1

Correct Answer - (i)All the filled orbitals of Xe have paired electrons.The promotions of one, two or three electrons from the 5p-filled orbitals to the 5 d-vacant orbitals will give rise to two, four and six half-filled orbitals respectively.So Xe can combine with even but not odd number of F atoms.Hence, it cannot form `XeF_(3)` and `XeF_(5)`.
(ii)Except radon which is radioactive, Xe has least ionization enthalpy among noble gases and hence it readily forms chemical compounds particularly with `O_(2)` and `F_(2)`.