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If two atoms of different elements are both missing exactly one electron in their valence shell so that they have a charge of +1 and we place an electron between them, exactly in the middle.

Which atom would exert a stronger force on that electron?

soundslikefiziks
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  • Wouldn't an atom missing an electron have a charge of +1? And I would think this would basically just be a comparison of electronegativity. – Tyberius Nov 29 '17 at 22:56
  • @Tyberius Thanks, corrected to +1. would a comparison of electronegativity tell me the force exerted on that electron if it was hypothetically put at exact distance from both of these Atoms's valence shells ? – soundslikefiziks Nov 29 '17 at 23:05
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    This is how Covalent bonds work. In reality, the electron is not really one single object, but a sort of "density of charge". There will be, loosely speaking, bits of charge on both atoms, but probably not in equal amounts.

    At a lower level of theory, the electron will go to whichever atom has higher electronegativity.

     – iammax Nov 29 '17 at 23:20
  • @iammax I actually arrived with this question after trying to understand why wouldn't two atoms missing exactly one electron have the exact same charge or exerting the exact "pull", regardless of their element – soundslikefiziks Nov 29 '17 at 23:23
  • that one which has the largest attractor – Another.Chemist Nov 30 '17 at 00:02
  • @soundslikefiziks while the net charge can be the same, the charge felt by an electron in two different elements will usually be quite different. This is because electrons already on an atom can shield the new electron from some of the positive charge of the nucleus. Conversely, with an electron removed from the element, a new electron would experience more of the nuclear charge. Related: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effective_nuclear_charge – Tyberius Nov 30 '17 at 15:38

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If two atoms of different elements are both missing exactly one electron in their valence shell so that they have a charge of +1 and we place an electron between them, exactly in the middle.

There isn't a nice simple answer to this.

Courtesy of quantum theory we know first and foremost that there's no single outcome possible - any possible result of this could happen in an individual case.

So what could happen is :

  • They could all remain apart
  • The electron could become bound to just one atom.
  • The electron could be shared by both atoms in a bond.

What would be most likely to happen depends on the details. The first option is not very likely in normal conditions, but is possible in more extreme conditions. The middle option is possible as is the third.

There is no convenient formula for working out energy levels in different atoms, molecules or ions so even working out the most likely configuration is not trivial.

Which atom would exert a stronger force on that electron?

This alone doesn't decide what happens because there is more to determining the most stable state that just the electromagnetic forces. But there is an important reason why no one could answer this for you : you haven't even given the names of the ions, let alone important details like the temperature or density of the parts of the system. Even with this info it would be a significant calculation (on a computer) to develop an answer.

There are two related areas for further study :

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