Xenon Bonds - Periodic Table of Videos 

Essentially, fluorine is one of the most reactive elements in the periodic table, so it makes sense that, if anything will interact with a noble gas, it would be fluorine.

My teacher put XeF4 on a naming test, and I thought she was trolling.

My chemistry professor said that chemistry is the study of all these rules and exceptions to them...

You're lucky that chemists didn't even know about this when you were in high school. When I was in high school, chemists had already known that Xenon could react with Fluorine for a long time, but we were always taught that noble gases never ever react with anything (in fact, on a true/false final exam question "noble gases can form compounds" if we put true it would be incorrect), until in grade 12 Chem my teacher said "oh, well actually, sometimes Xenon can form compounds." And he just casually mentioned it; he never actually explained why it happens. So much for "Inert Gases."

If radon wasnt so radioactive, i bet it would probably be better at forming compounds than xenon.

Honorable mention for most surprising thing about bonding: sextuple bonds in diatomic metals.

NaCl -------- NaOH The base is under a salt!!

This is really interesting. I also remember learning in high school that noble gases never react with anything, and I'm only 24.

This was very exciting to listen to! The thought that you can do what was thought to be impossible for years... It's a good feeling to know that we're still progressing and making discoveries every day.

The first time I saw the element Krypton I was like, *gasp* superman is real!!!

I would say the three-centre two-electron bond or dihydrogen coordination to metal ions, it was during my third year organometallic course that I learnt these 2 concepts and it totally blew my mind away!

He's asking is there likely to be other undiscovered elements in other regions of the galaxy/universe. I agree with you, All elements everywhere are made the same way (stars + supernova's + Beta decay) so they are unlikely to be any undiscovered ones. Also I'd be tempted to throttle that 92(U) back to 83 (Bi) and there nothing to say 118 is the limit of create-ability, just that it's the highest mass we have so far found/tried successfully to make.

Wish I could atted one of the Prof's lectures

James the more orbitals there are (further down the group), the more the electrons in the inner orbitals repel the ones in the outer orbitals. There are both attraction and repulsion forces at work that have the outer electrons (even in full shells) less strongly bonded to the nucleus than the inner ones. That gives the wiggle room needed in Xenon and Krypton bonding cases.

It would make sense that Argon COULD react with Fluorine at very low temperatures for two reasons. Since the outer electron shell is closer to the nucleus, it would make it less reactive as it can hang on to those electrons more tightly (like the Alkali metals) - this means that lowering the temperature = reducing vibrations and thus making the compound more stable. Also, since Helium and Neon follow the 2,8,8 electron structure that we learn about in high school, while Argon, Krypton and Xenon follow the s,p,d,f electronic structure (not an expert in this however), and the latter two are reactive with fluorine and oxygen, it would also make sense.

Argon can be chemically active too. But only under extreme condition like in the inside of a ICP-MS. In the cone of the ICP-MS plasma and shockwaves are being used to ionize atoms. However, as argon is the carrier gas there is very much present of it so some of it will ionize too. This is actually a problem because it will form di-atomair ions with other atoms like Oxygen and chlorine. This will be measured by the mass spectrometer and will overlap with other signals. So you always have to take into account that argon will react with other atoms when working a ICP-MS.

I believe HArF is an argon compound that is stable only at extremely low temperatures.

There also was that one episode on periodic videos where the professor showed us a paper on how a muon can replace one of the electrons in the shell of a helium atom. This can cause it to react with other elements.

0:40, "Chemistry teachers telling me, 'Noble gases don't react with anything.' " More than that. In those days, they were called "inert gases" precisely because they didn't react with anything. It must have been extremely surprising to find an element bonding when its very name meant, "it doesn't bond." Kind of like something sticking to a non-stick pan.

Think of nuclei as many protons pushing apart due to electrical forces, but when they are close enough there is a really strong 'grip' between them due to the Strong Force. Neutrons come in to hold everyone together without pushing anyone away (they're electrically neutral). When the nucleus gets big enough, the farthest protons still repel each other, and the grip of the nearest protons and neutrons is then not enough, and so a proton may be pushed out of the nucleus, making the element decay.

I've also wondered about this. There is a theoretical island of stability around atomic weight 300, but it's difficult to make an artificial element with enough neutrons to be stable.

I'm glad 5 hours of footage was compressed into 6:41. Impressive compression ratio!

I liked this. A video explaining why chemically things explode, or react endo/exothermically would be interesting. I've always wondered why oxygen was so combustive.

Well, there are compounds for Helium (like HeH+) and its electron shell is even closer to the nucleus. But thats probably because it only has 2 electrons in its shell, which is probably easier to pry apart than 8 electrons

A man walks into a bar and asks for H20. Another man walks into a bar and asks for H20 too. The second man dies.

So, is it safe to assume that a larger noble gas (eg Krypton, Xenon, Radon) has more flexibility with regards to forming bonds than with smaller noble gases (e.g. Helium, Neon and Argon), or is Xenon an exception to the rule, and a one off case? Have the same experiments been performed with the other large noble gases? What might Xenon Difluoride be used for?

Would it be possible for neon to react with something like sodium or lithium if a positron annihilated one of its electrons?

I would make one ,but have not had my cup of CoFe2 yet, and can't think straight.

i just love how the prof describes the what is happening in the atom like "upset the arrangement electron" and "fantastically unstable, if u tickle it with a feather it will explode" (that's what she said :P)

This made me chuckle

I LOVE THESE VIDEOS

What periodic table are you using in the vid, the one with the blue outline and the noble gas configuration. If I could have a link that would be awesome.

I remember from my chemistry classes that it's because the central oxygen atom in a water molecule has an extra pair of electrons (the so-called lone pair) compared to the carbon in CO2, which is the central atom. That extra pair of electrons pushes the bonds in a water molecule away from the straight line and into an angle that changes depending on what state the molecule is in.

No, "-ite" is reserved for mineral nomenclature in geology. Other suffixes are used, such as "-ide" or "-ate", depending on the type of compound.

it probably reacts by expanding its octet to accommodate more electrons; hence covalent bonding

I was expecting this to go into electron shielding; does that affect (enable?) these noble gas reactions?

I haven't seen the video yet but frrom my understanding of chemistry they would be covalent, I don't see how they could be ionic

I'm not sure if this is a question for chemistry or physics but here it is What is it that actually makes radioactive atomic elements like uranium or isotopes like C14 decay?

So in the difluoride does xenon have 2 free radicals? Where exactly are the bonds forming between fluoride and Xenon?

Brilliant vid and great story! :)

Most elements with big atomic numbers (number of protons in the nucleus) are unstable, and so we haven't been able to observe most of them, we've just measured their existence with ever increasingly powerful techniques. There is, however, a theorized 'sea of stability' in which highly massive elements can be stable. Even though, you may think of nucleus being held together by residue of the strong nuclear force, in which case there is few reasons to think there is stable elements over 92 or so.

good idea, pretty sure a few people are misled by those, including me . it'll be pretty interesting to see vid representations of these atomic interactions :D

So if you make a compound of Krypton could you call it a Kryptonite compound?

They do, but there aren't many of such compounds. Neon for instance isn't known to react with anything, and there is only some theoretical evidence helium might form compounds under some conditions :)

So, xenon doesn't want to react with anything, which is what makes it a noble gas. But it's also pretty big, so it doesn't pay too much attention to what the outer electrons are doing. This allows fluorine, which really really wants to react, to share an electron, even though the xenon would rather not. XeF2 is covalent, but there are ionic compounds of xenon: platinum hexafluoride wants an electron so much, it can rip it off of xenon.

What about the tetraxenongold(II) ion?

"Do they have the periodic table in Mexico?" Si.

Atomic nuclei are held together even though the protons are pushing each other apart due to its electric charge, because a residue of the force holding quarks in a proton together is strong enough to attract near protons even stronger than the electric force, the Strong Nuclear Force. This is why nuclei have many neutrons, which add to this residual attraction, but not electric repulsion. At some point this residue isn't enough to counteract the electric repulsion and the nuclei become unstable.

In CO2, all the valence electrons of the carbon atom are involved in the bonds. Those two bonds want to be as far away from each other as possible --> 180°. In H2O, the oxygen atom has two non-bonding electron pairs, which also need space. So it has two bonds and two non-bonding electron pairs which want to be as far away from each other as possible, which results in a tetrahedral arrangement, like if it formed four bonds.

I make element jokes... Periodically

How would pressure effect the reactivity of the noble gases?

This is something I've been curious about since childhood- is it not highly likely that there are many elements throughout the untouched universe that have yet to be discovered? We really do have extraordinary intelligence behind our methods here on earth, but what if something like how we measure/see atomic mass is simply inadequate relative to infinite time & distance?

Noble gases don't react with anything. Reminds me of a quote, though I'm not sure from whom. I wonder how many students have failed chemistry for not giving an answer we now know was false in the first place.

I would love to go on erasmus and come to Nottingham just for the professor

I think it's something like the weak/strong bonds?

Tell a sodium joke Na A potassium joke? K

Can helium react at all?

as an atom get larger the electrons are farther and farther away from the nuclei, so its easier to chemically bond certain atoms

Lol, that was actually so funny, I banged my neon my desk!

i love these science videos but, could you please make the volume of the audio to be a little bit higher? it's because in comparison with other videos the volume is a little bit low; my speakers are in the highest, the video too, but seems to be still a little bit low

Do you think we will ever find a compound that bonds with Neon?

Or do you know a good one about Nitric Oxide?

So, if krypton can form compounds with other substances, wouldn't you then be able to get kryptonate, and even kryptonite?

Two chemists walk into a bar. The bartender asks them what they want to drink. The first one says "I'd like some H20". The second said "I'd like some H2O, too". The second chemist died.

I think this is more of a physics question because this has to do with the Strong Nuclear force in the nucleus and not the electromagnetic force of chemical bonds. But I am not a nuclear physicist, so I am not really qualified to answer. Neutrons alone are unstable, and nuclei of certain sizes, shapes and ratios between protons and neutrons are unstable...

They brought it up now they need to show it

Science: Xenon is a noble gas and does not form chemical bonds. Professor: Challenge accepted!

Ummmm, the first noble gas compound was made by Neil Bartlett at UBC in Canada......

XENON TRIOXIDE VIDEO PLEASE

he should start out by saying "Good news everyone!"

118 is not the limit of the periodic table. Elements heavier than Ununoctium just haven't been produced yet.

Whenever I see a new video from this channel, I get very excited. Your videos are great. CHEMISTRY TO THE MASSES!!! (feel free to make lots of videos about atmospheric chemistry, especially about how oxides of nitrogen react with volatile organic compounds to make ozone) :)

Their outer most electrons are too tightly bound to their nuclei. make sense or want me to try and explain better?

I want to know something. The atoms in the water molecule stay at angle of 104 degrees. The atoms in CO2 - 180 degrees. Why? Why not 180 for all 3 atom molecules?

khanacadamy's biology and medicine series are good

So original.

That, as a matter of fact, I did not know. Thank you for the fun fact!

I asked these question to my high school teacher before in class... hahahah

Recently it was observed that Xeon at high pressure will attract eight Hydrogen atoms!

Me too. I wonder if anyone has any mole.

Under every video...someone writes this. A new tradition?

@craigmw45 noble gases actually do..

Yes, I.

I've heard the same thing but with neon

Fascinating... :)

watch?v=QASDy4bLQxs Professor Pimentel does it in this video. Highly recommended, but not because of the explosion (there's hardly anything to see) but because of the video as a whole.

5:21

If it interests anyone, McMaster university, which I attend, actually made many of the novel xenon oxyfluorides.

How is Cesium the most reactive element when 1 mol of Lithium gives off more energy than 1 mol of cesium?

Professor's hair is magical

I think its only helium and neon that doesnt react with fluorine

It's H-O-H and O-C-O. You can clearly see that there is a different atom in the middle. The electon configurations are different and the bonds happen in different places, and we have to be glad about that, else H2O wouldn't be a dipole.

Do more noble gas videos.

K.

I wonder how many eps the Prof opens with "Recently."

KO2 is potassium superoxide.

If the noble gases are "less noble" the heavier they are, one would think radon would be even more reactive? But then radon is not exactly a safe element to work with nor available in large quantities....

Is this the first time the professor mentioned working on his doctorate?

Seems his hair is stable and un-reactive. Was he born with that do? :D

My chemistry professor told me that halogens never occur as free elements in nature, and that was in 2001!