Mystery Element
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Re: Mystery Element
The center atom will be the atom with the lowest ionization energy. Ionization energy increases as you go across from left to right on the periodic table and decreases as you go down a group. Hope this was helpful!
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Re: Mystery Element
Typically, the center element would be the element that is the least electronegative. Or sometimes, the question will give you a specific element to use.
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Re: Mystery Element
In addition to lowest ionization energy/ electronegativity, you can also double check whether the structure of a compound is best by checking the formal charges of all of the atoms.
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Re: Mystery Element
Just to reiterate, the central element is typically the least electronegative atom and a good way to check that is to calculate the formal charges of all the elements in the molecule.
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