Why is it harder to remove an electron from fluorine than from carbon, or, to put it another way, why are the valence electrons of fluorine more strongly bound than those of carbon? 1. Carbon has a lower atomic mass than does fluorine. 2. The statement is false; it takes very nearly the same energy to remove an electron from (ionize) both elements. 3. Fluorine has a nearly filled octet, which is always more stable than a partially filled octet. 4. Fluorine has more valence elctrons than does carbon. 5. The valence electrons of both fluorine and carbon are found at about the same distance from their respective nuclei but the greater positive charge of the fluorine nucleus attracts its valence electrons more strongly.

5. The valence electrons of both fluorine and carbon are found at about the same distance from their respective nuclei but the greater positive charge of the fluorine nucleus attracts its valence electrons more strongly.

Explanation:

Both fluorine and carbon are located in the second period of the periodic table, it means that they have 2 shells, so the valence electrons are found at about the same distance from their respective nuclei.

But fluorine has a higher atomic number, 9, than the carbon, 6. The atomic number represents how many protons there are in the nucleus, then there are more protons (positive charge) at the fluorine nucleus, and because of that, the attraction force between the nucleus and the valence electron is stronger in fluorine.

If the force is stronger, it will be necessary more energy to break the bond, so it will be harder to remove an electron from fluorine than from carbon.

adioabiola adioabiola · Answer 2 · 2021-10-01T16:13:25+02:00

The reactivity of a chemical element is determined by the number of valence electrons in it's atomic shell. Elements with valence electrons of 5-7 tend to accept electron because of the amount of positive charge it has in their atomic shell and they are mostly non-metals while elements with lower valence electrons of 1-4 tends to donate electrons because of it has lower positive charge in their atomic shell and they are mostly metals.

Further more, the energy required to break seven valence electrons of florine is greater than the energy required to break one valence electrons of carbon.

Therefore, transfer of electrons is determined by the electropositivity of the elements. Elements with high electropositivity e.g flourine tends to accept electrons while elements with low electropositivity e.g carbon tends to donate electrons.