54. Xenon

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Xenon is the sixth element with electrons in the 5p orbital. Xenon has five full shells. Like neon, argon, and krypton, it achieves symmetrical stability without the need to hybridize its 5s and 5p orbitals. It is not as unreactive as the other noble gases since its larger size means its electrons are further from and less well-bound to the nucleus. This lowers ionization energy to the point that it can bond with, for example, the electronegative oxygen and fluorine atoms. (The wireframe indicates the boundary of the n=5 shell.)

An alternate view (shown below) of the orbitals of xenon shows an innermost 1^st-shell sphere within a 2^nd tetrahedral shell (dark blue) within a 3^rd cubic anti-prismatic shell (light blue) within an anti-aligned 4^th cubic anti-prismatic shell (brown) within a 5^th tetrahedral shell (pink).

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SEE OTHER NOBLE GASES: Helium, Neon, Argon, Krypton, Xenon