The electron affinity is a very specific measure of the tendency for atoms to gain electrons. Specifically, it is the amount of energy released by an electron when the electron joins or attaches to an isolated atom. This measurement is very sensitive to the difference between the types of orbitals and to the number of electrons in those orbitals. Consequently, the zigs and zags in a graph of electron affinity are even more pronounced than in the graph of ionization energy. Therefore we won't deal with the electron affinity trends - they get kind of lost in the fluctuations. You should remember what electron affinity is but don't worry about how it varies as you go across and up and down the periodic table.

E-mail instructor: Eden Francis Science Department 19600 South Molalla Avenue Oregon City, OR 97045 (503) 594-3352 TDD (503) 650-6649

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