Question

Among the following inert gas elements, the elements that show highest chemical reactivity is:
A. Ne
B. Ar
C. He
D. Xe

Answer 1

Hint: The first noble gas compound discovered was ${\text{X}}{{\text{e}}^{\text{ + }}}{\left[ {{\text{Pt}}{{\text{F}}_{\text{6}}}} \right]^{\text{ - }}}$ which was obtained when xenon and hexafluoroplatinate ion were mixed.
Xenon has vacant orbitals which makes it easier for xenon to accommodate new electrons.

Complete step by step answer:
The noble gases are chemically inert because of the following reasons:
The noble gases have completely filled ${\text{n}}{{\text{s}}^{\text{2}}}{\text{n}}{{\text{p}}^{\text{6}}}$ electronic configuration in their valence shells.
The noble gases have very high ionization enthalpies or ionization energies.
The electron gain enthalpies of noble gases are found to be positive.
Thus, the noble gases neither have a tendency to lose electrons nor to gain electrons. Hence they do not enter into any chemical combination.
The noble gas group consists of the elements helium, neon, argon, krypton, xenon and radon from top to bottom. Thus, xenon being at almost the bottom of the group will have a large size. So, the attraction between the electrons and the nucleus will be weaker. Therefore, xenon is chemically more reactive than the other noble gases and thus, it can form compounds.
A large number of xenon compounds, mainly with the most electronegative elements like fluorine and oxygen have been prepared. The most electronegative elements are capable of pulling most electrons towards itself.
Xenon has a relatively large atomic radius and thus there is less steric hindrance around it. Thus, it is possible for many small atoms to be kept around xenon. This is also why smaller noble gas atoms like neon and argon are not capable of making any compounds.

Thus, the correct answer is given by option D.

Note:
Although very rare, xenon has many applications. It is used in light emitting devices known as xenon flash lamps. It is also used in photographic flashes for the excitation of the active medium in lasers which then generate coherent light.
Xenon is also used as a general anesthetic but it is more expensive than the conventional anesthetics. The xenon chloride excimer laser is also used in surgery.