Answer to Question #77673 in General Chemistry for Sakshi

Question

First electron affinity of sulphur is - 200 kJ mol -1 but second electron affinity is +565 kJ mol -1. Explain.

Answer 1

The first electron affinity is negative because energy is released in the process of adding one electron to the neutral sulphur atom. Electron affinity can be thought of as a measure of the attraction between the nucleus and the newly added electron, the higher the attraction the more negative the value, so if the value is positive then there must be repulsion not attraction.

When the second electron is added you have to put energy in, rather than energy being released. For the first electron affinity we were adding an electron to a neutral atom, but now we are adding a negative electron to a negative ion so they will repel each other. So to overcome this electrostatic repulsion energy must be added in.