Periodic Trends

AP Chemistry· difficulty 3/5

The Cl- anion is larger than the neutral Cl atom because:

A
$More electron shells are added$
B
$Adding an electron increases electron-electron repulsion while Zeff per electron decreases$
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C
$The nuclear charge decreases$
D
$The added electron occupies a new shell$

Explanation

Cl- has 18 electrons but the same +17 nucleus, so Zeff per electron is lower and repulsion expands the electron cloud.

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