Iron has the highest binding energy and is therefore (I am told) the
most stable element.  It seems this must be "stable" in a sense
different than chemicallly inert because it readily reacts with Oxygen
for example.  What does it mean that iron is the most stable because
of its high binding energy and what if any effect does this have on
the chemical reactivity of iron?

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Request for Question Clarification by efn-ga on 06 Jun 2004 09:46 PDT

Hi buddytoliver-ga,

I have drafted an answer to your question as follows.

"The high binding energy of iron refers to the energy holding together
the particles in the nuclei of iron atoms.  Saying that iron is stable
means that it would take relatively a lot of energy to create a
nuclear reaction such as fusion or fission with iron atoms, compared
to other elements.

Chemical reactions are different from nuclear reactions--nuclear
reactions involve much higher levels of energy, and nuclear reactions
involve changes in the nuclei of atoms, whereas chemical reactions
don't change nuclei, but just change the way atoms are hooked together
with chemical bonds, which involve electrons rather than nuclei. 
Because the nucleus determines the atom's identity as an element,
after a nuclear reaction, iron would not be iron any more, whereas
after a chemical reaction, iron atoms would still be iron atoms, just
arranged in molecules differently.

So iron's reluctance to participate in nuclear reactions is unrelated
to its willingness to participate in chemical reactions and you are
correct that nuclear stability is different from chemical inertness."

This is consistent with the comment from Mongolia below, but possibly
clearer.  We researchers try to avoid charging for answers that don't
add enough value to information that is available in the comments, so
my question to you is whether the answer above does so.  In other
words, would you like to buy that answer, or was your question already
answered adequately by Mongolia's comment?  The answer would also have
a few additional links and notes on search strategy.

--efn

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Clarification of Question by buddytoliver-ga on 08 Jun 2004 08:00 PDT

Thank you for the input, I do think that Mongolia's answer contains
pretty much the same information.  I am a little confused about the
difference in an answer and a comment I guess.  Both contain the
information I was looking for.  The links and search tips would not
really be needed.  Let me know whatever you think is fair.
Thanks and keep up the great work
Buddy

the binding energy of iron relates to it nucleus while it 's ability
to react to other chemical elements has more to do with its overall
atomic structure. (Most importantly the distribution and energy levels
of the electrons which are associated with the iron atom). Unlike
elements such as Helium and Argon, Iron
is certainly not a chemically inert element.  

The 'stability' to which you refer is thus closely associated with the
nucleus.  When an iron nucleus or any atom with an atomic number less
than iron disintegrates , it takes an excess of energy to do this.
However when nucleii of atoms with greater atomic number than iron
disintegrate then there is an 'excess' of energy. (the best examples
been atoms of Uranium and Plutonium) which emit large amounts of
energy when their nucleii disintegrate.

 It should also be pointed out that most nucleii of atoms are normally
stable and it takes an outside interation to cause it to split or
disintegrate. (In the case of Plutonium and Uranium it is usually the
absorption of an neutron into its nuclues)

 Hope this helps

  Mongolia

Based on your clarification, I think it's fair to leave the question unanswered.

The differences between a question and a comment are in who can write
them and how much they cost the questioner.  You pay fifty cents to
ask a question whether it's answered or not; if it is answered and you
accept the answer (that is, you don't ask for a refund), you pay the
List Price you set for the question.  If it is not answered, you pay
only the listing charge.  Comments sometimes answer questions and
never cost the questioner anything.

Any registered user can post a comment, but only researchers
authorized by Google Answers can post answers.  You can tell if a user
name belongs to a researcher because researchers' names appear as
links and other users' names don't.

--efn