Electronegativity of an atom can be thought of as its ability to attract electrons in a bond. An atom with a higher electronegativity is more likely to form an ionic bond with an atom with low electronegativity. An example is sodium chloride, where, sodium has low electronegativity, while chlorine has a higher electronegativity.
The size of an atom has significant effect on its electronegativity. Smaller atomic size means that nucleus has a higher pull on the electrons and is capable of attracting more electrons. In comparison, larger atomic size means the valence electrons are farther away from the nucleus and thus experience lesser nuclear pull and hence the electronegativity is less. This is the reason, the electronegativity decreases as we go down a group in the periodic table. Thus, fluorine has higher electronegativity as compared to chlorine and iodine.
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