Given below are two statements: Statement I: In Group 16, oxygen has the least negative electron gain enthalpy among all the elements in the group. Statement II: In Group 17, fluorine has the least negative electron gain enthalpy among all the elements in the group. In the light of the above statements, choose the most appropriate answer from the options given below:

Step-by-step solution

Statement I is correct. In Group 16, the electron gain enthalpy of oxygen is the least negative ( -141 kJ mol ⁻¹ ) compared to the rest of the group members (e.g., S is -200 kJ mol ⁻¹ , Po is -174 kJ mol ⁻¹ ). This is due to the very small size of the oxygen atom, which leads to strong interelectronic repulsions when an extra electron is added. Statement II is incorrect. In Group 17, although fluorine has a less negative electron gain enthalpy ( -328 kJ mol ⁻¹ ) than chlorine ( -349 kJ mol ⁻¹ ) due to similar inter