Question

The low chemical reactivity of the rare gases can be attributed to their.
(a) Being non-metals
(b) Having high ionisation energies
(c) Being gases
(d) Found in nature in small quantities

Answer 1

Hint: The compounds which are constructed by an element of the noble gases or inert gases are called noble gas compounds. Generally, gases are considered non-reactive. But in a few cases, it is found that noble gases such as xenon can form the compound with other elements of the periodic table.

Complete Step by Step Solution:
On the bases of reactivity noble gases can be divided into two parts:
(1) Reactive noble gases: Krypton (\[Kr\]), Xenon (\[Xe\]), and Radon (\[Rn\]).
(2) Non-reactive noble gases: Argon (\[Ar\]), Neon (\[Ne\]), and Helium (\[He\]).

Noble gases are inert due to following two reasons:
(1) They have a very stable outer shell electronic configuration i.e\[n{s^2}n{p^6}\] or we can say, they have eight electrons in their valence electrons.
(2) The noble gas possesses very high ionisation enthalpy and electron affinity. Therefore, they cannot lose or gain electrons in chemical reactions.
The \[Xe{F_2}\], \[Xe{F_4}\], \[Xe{F_6}\], \[Xe{O_3}\] and \[XeO{F_2}\]are the compounds which are formed by the xenon gas (\[Xe\]).
Therefore from the above explanation we can say that option (b) will be the correct option:

Note: All the noble gases are monoatomic. Xenon (\[Xe\]) is used in some specialised light sources. Among noble gases xenon forms the highest number of compounds. Xenon (\[Xe\]) can cause death. Xenon (\[Xe\]) also is used as a moderator in nuclear reactors.