Arrange the members of each of the following pairs in order of increasing radius and explain the order:
A. Te, Te2-
B. Al, Al3-
3 answers
Any time you add electrons to a shell, it makes the radius larger because the electrons repel each other. You must add two electrons to a neutral Te atom to obtain Te= and you must add three electrons to neutral Al to obtain Al3-.
so which is the correct way of increasing radius and what is a Te=
I don't know that there is "a correct way" of increasing radius. From my discussion can you not see that Te is smaller than Te= and Al is smaller than Al3+?