Electronegativity

Question 1

what is electronegativity?

Answer 1

the power of an atom to attract the pair of electrons in a covalent bond towards itself

Question 2

what will the electron distribution in a covalent bond between elements with different electronegativities be?

Answer 2

asymmetrical

Question 3

where does the electronegativity phenomenon arise from?

Answer 3

the ability of the positive nucleus to attract the negatively charged electrons, in the outer shells, towards itself

Question 4

what is used to assign a value of electronegativity for each atom?

Answer 4

the Pauling scale

Question 5

what is the most electronegative element on the periodic table?

Answer 5

fluorine with a 4.0 value on the Pauling Scale

Question 6

what factors affect the electronegativity of an element?

Answer 6

-nuclear charge
-atomic radius
-shielding
-down a group
-across a period

Question 7

why and how does nuclear charge affect electronegativity?

Answer 7

an increase in the number of protons leads to an increase in nuclear attraction for the electrons in the outer shells
tf an increased nuclear charge results in an increased electronegativity

Question 8

who does attraction exist between in the energy levels of an atom?

Answer 8

between the positively charged protons in the nucleus and negatively charged electrons, found in the energy levels of an atom

Question 9

what is the atomic radius?

Answer 9

the distance between the nucleus and electrons in the outermost shell

Question 10

how does atomic radius affect electronegativity?

Answer 10

a decreased electronegativity (those electrons further away from the nucleus are less strongly attracted towards the nucleus)

Question 11

what is shielding?

Answer 11

filled energy levels can shield (mask) the effect of the nuclear charge causing the outer electrons to be less attracted to the nucleus

Question 12

how does shielding affect electronegativity?

Answer 12

an increased number of inner shells and subshells will result in a decreased electronegativity (as filled energy levels can shield (mask) the effect of the nuclear charge causing the outer electrons to be less attracted to the nucleus)

Question 13

how does electronegativity vary?

Answer 13

across periods and down the groups of the periodic table

Question 14

how does going down the group affect electronegativity?

Answer 14

a decrease in electronegativity going down the group

Question 15

why does going down the group affect electronegativity?

Answer 15

the nuclear charge increases as more protons are being added to the nucleus
however, each element has an extra filled electron shell, which increases shielding
the addition of the extra shells increases the distance between the nucleus and the outer electrons resulting in larger atomic radii
overall, there is decrease in attraction between the nucleus and outer bonding electrons

Question 16

how does going across a period affect electronegativity?

Answer 16

electronegativity increases going across a period

Question 17

why does going across a period affect electronegativity?

Answer 17

the nuclear charge increases with the addition of protons to the nucleus
shielding remains relatively constant across the period as no new shells are being added to the atoms
the nucleus has an increasingly strong attraction for the bonding pair of electrons of atoms across the period of the periodic table
this results in smaller atomic radii