In terms of electronegativity, from what I understand electronegativity increases going across the period, so surely this should mean that zinc less readily loses its outer shell electrons than copper? Zinc has a greater nuclear charge but the outer shell electrons are in the same shell, so should the outer shell electrons in zinc not experience a stronger attraction to the nucleus? I have a feeling that this has something to do with which sub shells the electrons are removed from in copper and zinc...
Answer
You have to think about the whole process. When a metal loses electrons to make a metal ion the following happens:
- The metallic bonds holding the metal atoms together are broken.
- The metal atom loses the electrons.
- The resulting metal ion is hydrated.
In your analysis you are only focusing on step 2. The enthalpy and entropy of the entire process factor into the reduction potential.
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