Given below are two statements: one is labelled as Assertion (A) and the other is labelled as Reason (R). Assertion (A): The negative electron gain enthalpy of fluorine is less than that of chlorine. Reason (R): The addition of an electron to the 2p orbital of fluorine leads to lesser interelectronic repulsions compared to adding it to the 3p orbital of chlorine. In the light of the above statements, choose the most

Step-by-step solution

Assertion (A) is true. The negative electron gain enthalpy of fluorine is less than that of chlorine. Chlorine has the highest negative electron gain enthalpy in the periodic table. Reason (R) is false. Fluorine has a very small atomic size compared to chlorine. When an electron is added to the compact 2p subshell of fluorine, it experiences significant interelectronic repulsions. In contrast, the 3p subshell of chlorine is larger and more diffuse, so the added electron experiences much less repulsion. Therefore, t