Of the following elements which is the MOST easily oxidized.a) oxygenB) FluorineC)nitrogend)aluminumE) GoldWhich of these metals is he LEAST easily oxidized?A)NaB)AuC)FeD)CaE)AgI don't understand what would make it easily oxidized or least easily oxidized?
The most easily oxidized elements are found in the leftmost groups of the Periodic TableThis is because the effective nuclear charge is lower in these elementsMetals tend to be more easily oxidized than nonmetals, and for practical purposes, you can't oxidize fluorine, nitrogen, and oxygenNow aluminium and goldaluminium has three outer shell electrons, whereas gold is a transition metal and has low-lying d electronsTherefore, we expect aluminium to be more easily oxidized than goldAs for the second question, note that Na and Ca are very easily oxidized because of their electronic structureThis leaves Au, Fe, and AgThere is no simple way to explain why gold is so difficult to oxidize; it has to do partially with the fact that relativistic effects in gold make electrons heavier, placing them closer to the nucleus than otherwise expectedIn any case, Au is the answer to the second question.
