Periodic Trends: Electronegativity and Metallic Character
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What is electronegativity?
Electronegativity is the ability of an atom to attract electrons toward itself in a chemical bond.
What is the trend in electronegativity across a period?
Electronegativity increases across a period from left to right.
Why does electronegativity increase across a period?
As atoms have more positive nuclear charge but smaller radii, they exert greater pull on shared electrons.
What is the trend in electronegativity down a group?
Electronegativity decreases down a group.
Why does electronegativity decrease down a group?
Increased distance from the nucleus and greater electron shielding reduce the pull on bonding electrons.
How is electronegativity different from electron affinity?
Electronegativity is an atom's ability to attract electrons in a bond, while electron affinity refers to the energy change when an atom gains an electron.
What is metallic character?
Metallic character refers to an element’s tendency to lose electrons and form positive ions.
What is the trend in metallic character across a period?
Metallic character decreases across a period from left to right.
Why does metallic character decrease across a period?
Due to increasing electronegativity and ionization energy, elements are less likely to lose electrons.
What is the trend in metallic character down a group?
Metallic character increases down a group.
Why does metallic character increase down a group?
As atomic radius increases, outer electrons are more easily lost, enhancing metallic properties.
How does electronegativity correlate with metallic properties?
Low electronegativity is associated with high metallic character as metals tend to lose electrons.
Which element has the highest electronegativity?
Fluorine has the highest electronegativity of all elements.
How do trends in electronegativity and ionization energy compare?
Both increase across a period and decrease down a group, indicating a relation in attraction to electrons.
Why is fluorine more electronegative than chlorine?
Despite being in the same group, fluorine's smaller atomic radius allows it to exert a stronger pull on electrons.