Electronegativity

▪ Electronegativity is a measure of the tendency of an atom to attract a bonding pair of electrons.

▪ The Pauling scale is the most commonly used.

▪ Fluorine (the most electronegative element) is assigned a value of 4.0, and values range down to cesium and francium
which are the least electronegative at 0.7.

▪ Linus Pauling described electronegativity as “the power of an atom in a molecule to attract electrons to itself.”

▪ Basically, the electronegativity of an atom is a relative value of that atom's ability to attract election density toward
itself when it bonds to another atom.

▪ The higher the electronegativity of an element, the more that atom will attempt to pull electrons towards itself and
away from any atom it bonds to.

▪ The main properties of an atom dictate it's electronegativity are it's atomic number as well as its atomic radius.

▪ The trend for electronegativity is to increase as you move from left to right and bottom to top across the periodic
table.

▪ This means that the most electronegative atom is Fluorine and the least electronegative is Francium.
 What if two atoms of equal electronegativity bond together?

Consider a bond between two atoms, A and B. If the atoms are equally electronegative, both have the same tendency
to attract the bonding pair of electrons, and so it will be found on average half way between the two atoms:

To get a bond like this, A and B would usually have to be the same atom.

▪ This sort of bond could be thought of as being a "pure" covalent bond - where the electrons are shared evenly
between the two atoms.
 What if B is slightly more electronegative than A?
B will attract the electron pair rather more than A does.

▪ That means that the B end of the bond has more than its fair share of electron density and so becomes slightly
negative. At the same time, the A end (rather short of electrons) becomes slightly positive. I

▪ In the diagram, " δ " (read as "delta") means "slightly" - so δ+ means "slightly positive".

• A polar bond is a covalent bond in which there is a separation of charge between one end and the other - in other
words in which one end is slightly positive and the other slightly negative. Examples include most covalent bonds. The
hydrogen-chlorine bond in HCl or the hydrogen-oxygen bonds in water are typical.

▪ If B is a lot more electronegative than A, then the electron pair is dragged right over to B's end of the bond.
▪ A has lost control of its electron, and B has complete control over both electrons. Ions have been formed. The
bond is then an ionic bond rather than a covalent bond.
▪ The implication of all this is that there is no clear-cut division between covalent and ionic bonds.

▪ In a pure covalent bond, the electrons are held on average exactly half way between the atoms.

▪ In a polar bond, the electrons have been dragged slightly towards one end. How far does this dragging have to go
before the bond counts as ionic? There is no real answer to that.

▪ Sodium chloride is typically considered an ionic solid, but even here the sodium has not completely lost control of its
electron.

▪ Because of the properties of sodium chloride, however, we tend to count it as if it were purely ionic.

▪ Lithium iodide, on the other hand, would be described as being "ionic with some covalent character".

▪ In this case, the pair of electrons has not moved entirely over to the iodine end of the bond. Lithium iodide, for example,
dissolves in organic solvents like ethanol - not something which ionic substances normally do.

▪ No electronegativity difference between two atoms leads to a pure non-polar covalent bond.
• A small electronegativity difference leads to a polar covalent bond.
• A large electronegativity difference leads to an ionic bond.
 Patterns of electronegativity in the Periodic Table

Electronegativity increases from bottom to top in a

column in the periodic table even though there are more
protons in the elements at the bottom of the column.

Elements at the top of a column have greater

electronegativities than elements at the bottom of a
given column.

The overall trend for electronegativity in the periodic table

is diagonal from the lower left corner to the upper right
corner.

Since the electronegativity of some of the important

elements cannot be determined by these trends (they lie
in the wrong diagonal), we have to memorize the
following order of electronegativity for some of these
common elements.

F > O > Cl > N > Br > I > S > C > H > metals
• As you go across a period from left to right,
electronegativity increases, ionization energy
increases, and atomic radius decreases. In
order for energy to increase, radius must
decrease.

• As you go up and down a period,

electronegativity decreases, ionization energy
decreases, and atomic radius increases. In
order for energy to decrease, radius must
increase.
• Electronegativity is the force/energy required
to acquire electrons and form negative ions
during chemical reactions
• .

• Ionization Energy is the complete opposite.

Ionization is the force/energy required to
remove electrons from an ion. These strive to
make cations while electronegative ions
usually involve anions (hence the phrase
electronegativity).
▪ As one goes down a group in the periodic table, the atomic radius increases.
▪ This is due to an increase in the number of principal energy levels or shells and the increase in shielding (and thus
decreased effective nuclear charge) as the atomic number increases.
▪ Electronegativity, which is a relative measure of the force of attraction between an atom and the electrons it is
sharing in a bond with another atom,decreases as one goes down a group because as the atomic radius increases,
there is less attraction between the nucleus and shared electrons (Coulomb's Law).
▪ The Period number determines the number of shells or energy levels in an atom.
FACTORS AFFECTING ELECTRONEGATIVITY
•NUCLEAR CHARGE • Atomic Radius is the size of the atom
•ATOMIC RADIUS
• Atomic radius is generally stated as being the total distance from an atom’s
•SHIELDING nucleus to the outermost orbital of electron.

• In simpler terms, it can be defined as something similar to the

radius of a circle, where the center of the circle is the nucleus and the
outer edge of the circle is the outermost orbital of electron.

• As you begin to move across or down the periodic table, trends emerge that
help explain how atomic radii changes

ATOMIC RADIUS
• The atomic radius of an element is a measure of the
size of its atoms.
• It represents the mean distance from the nucleus to
the outermost boundary of the surrounding cloud of
electrons.
• Atomic radii vary in a predictable manner across the
periodic table.
• Atomic radius decreases from left to right within a period.

• This is caused by the increase in the number of protons and electrons across a
period.

• One proton has a greater effect than one electron cause of the coulombic law.
Thus, electrons are pulled towards the nucleus, resulting in a smaller radius.
• The number of energy levels increases moving down a group as the number of electrons increases.

• As a result, the distance between the nucleus and the outermost orbital increases and so the atomic radius
increases.
Shielding effect ∝ Atomic radius

•The phenomena in which the inner shell electrons shield the

outer electrons in an atom from the attractive force (pull) of the
Nucleus is known as Shielding.

•So more is the shielding⇒more the outer electrons are shielded

⇒The attractive pull by the nucleus on the outer electrons
decreases ⇒ Thus, the size ( radius) of the atom increases.
 • Key difference between electronegativity and ionization energy is that electronegativity explains the
attraction of electrons while ionization energy refers to the removal of electrons from an atom.

• Ionization energy is the minimum energy required to remove a loosely bound electron of an atom or molecule in
the gaseous state.
• It measures the capability of an atom to lose an electron during a chemical reaction. It is opposite to electron
affinity
• The ionization energy periodic trend is defined as a specific pattern in ionization energy displayed by the elements
due to a change in its atomic structure.
• The trend is observed across a period and down a group in the periodic table
• Horizontal Trend: Ionization Energy Across a Period
• From left to right, the atomic number of the elements increases gradually, increasing the number of protons and the
nuclear charge.
• As a result, there will be a stronger attractive electrostatic force between the nucleus and the electrons. This force
makes it difficult to remove the electron from the valence shell. Therefore, the ionization energy increases from left to
right across a period, as shown in the image above.
• Vertical Trend: Ionization Energy Down a Group

• From top to bottom, the atomic number increases rapidly. It means that the atoms become larger and
increase in size and radius.

• The valence electrons get further away from the nucleus.

• Moreover, the inner electrons shield the nucleus from the outer electron, reducing the effective nuclear
charge (Zeff).

• As a result, the valence electrons experience a weak electrostatic attraction and are held loosely to the
atom. It makes it easier to remove them from their orbit.

• Therefore, the ionization energy decreases down a group. In other words, the ionization energy increases
from bottom to top, as shown in the image above.