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Chemistry vocabulary · Chemical Bonding and Structure

Electronegativity

Meaning in chemistry, with examples

/ɪˌlektrəʊˌneɡəˈtɪvəti/nounCommon term

In chemistry, electronegativity means: A measure of how strongly an atom pulls shared electrons toward itself in a bond. Fluorine has the highest value, about 4.0 on the Pauling scale.

In Turkish: elektronegatiflik

How it is used

Used to predict bond polarity and reactivity. It increases across a period and decreases down a group. You compare values and talk about the 'electronegativity difference' between two bonded atoms.

Example sentences

  1. Oxygen's high electronegativity makes the O–H bond strongly polar.

  2. If the electronegativity difference is large, the bond is mostly ionic.

Common collocations

  • electronegativity difference
  • high electronegativity
  • Pauling scale
  • electronegativity values
  • polarDescribes a bond or molecule in which electrons are shared unevenly, so that one end is slightly negative and the other slightly positive. Water is a typical example.
  • covalent bondA chemical bond in which two atoms share one or more pairs of electrons. It usually forms between nonmetal atoms, as in H₂, H₂O and CH₄.
  • ionic bondThe strong attraction between positive and negative ions that forms when one atom, usually a metal, transfers electrons to another, usually a nonmetal. Sodium chloride is the classic case.
  • periodic tableA chart that arranges all known elements in order of atomic number, in rows called periods and columns called groups. Elements in the same group behave in similar ways.

More terms: Chemical Bonding and Structure

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