Although fluorine is more electronegative than oxygen, but the ability of oxygen to stabilise higher oxidation states exceeds that of fluorine. Why?

Explanation

To understand why oxygen can stabilize higher oxidation states compared to fluorine, despite fluorine being more electronegative, we can break down the reasoning into several steps:

### Step 1: Understanding Electronegativity
- **Definition**: Electronegativity is the tendency of an atom to attract electrons towards itself when forming a bond.
- **Comparison**: Fluorine is the most electronegative element, while oxygen is also electronegative but less so than fluorine.

### Step 2: Bond Formation
- **Fluorine's Bonding**: Fluorine typically forms single bonds due to its high electronegativity and small size. This means that when fluorine bonds with another element, it can only form one bond per atom.
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