Question

The noble gases were, until relatively recently, thought to be entirely unreactive. Experiments in the early 1960s showed that Xe could, in fact, form compounds with fluorine. The formation of compounds containing Xe is made possible by ________.

Answer 1

Answer:

Xenon’s relatively low ionization energy

Explanation:

Ionization energy is the minimum amount of energy that is necessary to remove or dislodge the most loosely bound electron called the valence electron. When this happens and the valence electrons are removed they then go to the other atom and vice versa and bonding occurs.

Since Xenon is unreactive then its relatively low ionization energy is responsible for its bonding with fluorine.