Question

Study the electron dot diagrams in Figure 1 above. Which of the elements are most likely to react and form a compound? What type of compound are they likely to form?

Answer 1

So each element wants 8 electrons with the exception of Hydrogen and Boron. Hydrogen only wants 2 electrons while boron only wants 6. In this case, F is at 7 and wants to get to 8. It has more electron affinity than the others because it is so close to having 8 that it will "want" to bond to anything willing. This fluorine atom will most likely bond with an atom from the opposite side of the periodic table of elements... most likely in the first group of the periodic table. This is because those atoms only have 1 valence electron and are willing to give one away. This creates an ionic bond.