Electronegativity Quiz

Electronegativity, symbolized as χ, is the tendency for an atom of a given chemical element to attract shared electrons (or electron density) when forming a chemical bond. An atom's electronegativity is affected by both its atomic number and the distance at which its valence electrons reside from the charged nucleus.

The higher the associated electronegativity, the more an atom or a substituent group attracts electrons.

Electronegativity serves as a simple way to quantitatively estimate the bond energy, and the sign and magnitude of a bond's chemical polarity, which characterizes a bond along the continuous scale from covalent to ionic bonding.

<p>The loosely defined term electropositivity is the opposite of electronegativity: it characterizes an element's tendency to donate valence electrons.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>On the most basic level, electronegativity is determined by factors like the nuclear charge (the more protons an atom has, the more 'pull' it will have on electrons) and the number and location of other electrons in the atomic shells (the more electrons an atom has, the farther from the nucleus the valence electrons will be, and as a result, the less positive charge they will experience—both because of their increased distance from the nucleus and because the other electrons in the lower energy core orbitals will act to shield the valence electrons from the positively charged nucleus.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>In chemistry, polarity is a separation of electric charge leading to a molecule or its chemical groups having an electric dipole moment, with a negatively charged end and a positively charged end. Polar molecules must contain one or more polar bonds due to a difference in electronegativity between the bonded atoms. Molecules containing polar bonds have no molecular polarity if the bond dipoles cancel each other out by symmetry. Polar molecules interact through dipole-dipole intermolecular forces and hydrogen bonds. Polarity underlies a number of physical properties including surface tension, solubility, and melting and boiling points.</p> Signup and view all the answers

<p>Not all atoms attract electrons with the same force. The amount of &quot;pull&quot; an atom exerts on its electrons is called its electronegativity. Atoms with high electronegativities – such as fluorine, oxygen, and nitrogen – exert a greater pull on electrons than atoms with lower electronegativities such as alkali metals and alkaline earth metals. In a bond, this leads to unequal sharing of electrons between the atoms, as electrons will be drawn closer to the atom with the higher electronegativity. Because electrons have a negative charge, the unequal sharing of electrons within a bond leads to the formation of an electric dipole: a separation of positive and negative electric charge.</p> Signup and view all the answers