why carbon has a higher electron affinity than nitrogen.

[Chem_Mod]

Question: I am wondering why carbon has a higher electron affinity than nitrogen.

[Chem_Mod]

Answer: C is higher because it has an empty 2p-orbital which better accommodates the extra e-. N has no empty 2p-orbitals.

[Helen Shi 1J]

It is because the orbitals of Carbon is only 1/3 filled whereas Nitrogen has 3 out of the 6 electrons which is more balanced, thus it does not require another electron as much.

[Rachel Formaker 1E]

Nitrogen has a half-filled 2p subshell, so that there is one electron in each orbital.

This creates an unusually stable atom because of half-shell stability.
Because nitrogen is relatively stable on its own, it has a relatively low electron affinity.

It is similar to the reason that chromium has an unusual valence shell configuration.

[Karan Singh Lecture 3]

Nitrogen is more stable than carbon, because it has a half-filled p sub-shell and carbon does not, thus making it less stable and having a higher electroon affinity.

[Clarissa Molina 1D]

What is the overall trend for electron affinity? And are there any exceptions to the trend?