Group 17: Oxidising Agents
- Halogens react with metals by accepting an electron from the metal atom to become an ion with 1- charge, e.g.
Ca (s) + Cl2 (g) → Ca2+ (Cl-)2 (s)
- Halogens are therefore oxidising agents:
- Halogens oxidise the metal by removing an electron from the metal (the oxidation number of the metal increases)
- Halogens become reduced as they gain an extra electron from the metal atom (the oxidation number of the halogen decreases)
- The oxidising power of the halogens decreases going down the group (the halogens get less reactive)
- This can be explained by looking at their electronegativities:
Graph of Halogen electronegativity
The electronegativity of the halogens decreases going down the group
- The electronegativity of an atom refers to how strongly it attracts electrons towards itself in a covalent bond
- The decrease in electronegativity is linked to the size of the halogens
- Going down the group, the atomic radii of the elements increase which means that the outer shells get further away from the nucleus
- An ‘incoming’ electron will therefore experience more shielding from the attraction of the positive nuclear charge
- The halogens’ ability to accept an electron (their oxidising power) therefore decreases going down the group
Trend in Halogen electronegativity
With increasing atomic size of the halogens (going down the group) their electronegativity, and therefore oxidising power, decreases
- The reactivity of halogens is also shown by their displacement reactions with other halide ions in solutions
- A more reactive halogen can displace a less reactive halogen from a halide solution of the less reactive halogen
- E.g. The addition of chlorine water to a solution of bromine water:
Cl2 (aq) + 2NaBr (aq) → 2NaCl (aq) + Br2 (aq)
- The chlorine has displaced the bromine from the solution as it is more reactive which can be summarised in the following ionic equation:
Cl2 (aq) + 2Br– (aq) → 2Cl– (aq) + Br2 (aq)