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Electronegativity – Pauling Scale

Electronegativity, symbol χ, is a chemical property that describes the tendency of an atom to attract electrons towards this atom. For this purpose, a dimensionless quantity, the Pauling scale, symbol χ, is the most commonly used.

The electronegativity of fluorine is:

χ = 4.0

An atom’s electronegativity is generally affected by its atomic number and the distance its valence electrons reside from the charged nucleus. The higher the associated electronegativity number, the more an element or compound attracts electrons toward it.

As it is usually calculated, electronegativity is not a property of an atom alone but rather a property of an atom in a molecule. Even so, the electronegativity of an atom is strongly correlated with the first ionization energy and negatively correlated with the electron affinity. Electrons with low ionization energies have low electronegativities because their nuclei do not exert a strong, attractive force on electrons. Elements with high ionization energies have high electronegativities due to the strong pull exerted by the positive nucleus on the negative electrons. Therefore the electronegativity is greatest at the top-right of the periodic table and decreases toward the bottom-left.

Cesium is the least electronegative element (0.79); fluorine is the most (3.98).

Electronegativity in the periodic table

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electronegativity - elements - periodic table

electron affinity and electronegativity

Periodic Table

Hydro­gen1H He­lium2He
Lith­ium3Li Beryl­lium4Be Boron5B Carbon6C Nitro­gen7N Oxy­gen8O Fluor­ine9F Neon10Ne
So­dium11Na Magne­sium12Mg Alumin­ium13Al Sili­con14Si Phos­phorus15P Sulfur16S Chlor­ine17Cl Argon18Ar
Potas­sium19K Cal­cium20Ca Scan­dium21Sc Tita­nium22Ti Vana­dium23V Chrom­ium24Cr Manga­nese25Mn Iron26Fe Cobalt27Co Nickel28Ni Copper29Cu Zinc30Zn Gallium31Ga Germa­nium32Ge Arsenic33As Sele­nium34Se Bromine35Br Kryp­ton36Kr
Rubid­ium37Rb Stront­ium38Sr Yttrium39Y Zirco­nium40Zr Nio­bium41Nb Molyb­denum42Mo Tech­netium43Tc Ruthe­nium44Ru Rho­dium45Rh Pallad­ium46Pd Silver47Ag Cad­mium48Cd Indium49In Tin50Sn Anti­mony51Sb Tellur­ium52Te Iodine53I Xenon54Xe
Cae­sium55Cs Ba­rium56Ba Lan­thanum57La 1 asterisk Haf­nium72Hf Tanta­lum73Ta Tung­sten74W Rhe­nium75Re Os­mium76Os Iridium77Ir Plat­inum78Pt Gold79Au Mer­cury80Hg Thallium81Tl Lead82Pb Bis­muth83Bi Polo­nium84Po Asta­tine85At Radon86Rn
Fran­cium87Fr Ra­dium88Ra Actin­ium89Ac 1 asterisk Ruther­fordium104Rf Dub­nium105Db Sea­borgium106Sg Bohr­ium107Bh Has­sium108Hs Meit­nerium109Mt Darm­stadtium110Ds Roent­genium111Rg Coper­nicium112Cn Nihon­ium113Nh Flerov­ium114Fl Moscov­ium115Mc Liver­morium116Lv Tenness­ine117Ts Oga­nesson118Og
1 asterisk Cerium58Ce Praseo­dymium59Pr Neo­dymium60Nd Prome­thium61Pm Sama­rium62Sm Europ­ium63Eu Gadolin­ium64Gd Ter­bium65Tb Dyspro­sium66Dy Hol­mium67Ho Erbium68Er Thulium69Tm Ytter­bium70Yb Lute­tium71Lu
1 asterisk Thor­ium90Th Protac­tinium91Pa Ura­nium92U Neptu­nium93Np Pluto­nium94Pu Ameri­cium95Am Curium96Cm Berkel­ium97Bk Califor­nium98Cf Einstei­nium99Es Fer­mium100Fm Mende­levium101Md Nobel­ium102No Lawren­cium103Lr

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References:
Nuclear and Reactor Physics:
  1. J. R. Lamarsh, Introduction to Nuclear Reactor Theory, 2nd ed., Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA (1983).
  2. J. R. Lamarsh, A. J. Baratta, Introduction to Nuclear Engineering, 3d ed., Prentice-Hall, 2001, ISBN: 0-201-82498-1.
  3. W. M. Stacey, Nuclear Reactor Physics, John Wiley & Sons, 2001, ISBN: 0- 471-39127-1.
  4. Glasstone, Sesonske. Nuclear Reactor Engineering: Reactor Systems Engineering, Springer; 4th edition, 1994, ISBN: 978-0412985317
  5. W.S.C. Williams. Nuclear and Particle Physics. Clarendon Press; 1 edition, 1991, ISBN: 978-0198520467
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  7. Robert Reed Burn, Introduction to Nuclear Reactor Operation, 1988.
  8. U.S. Department of Energy, Nuclear Physics and Reactor Theory. DOE Fundamentals Handbook, Volume 1 and 2. January 1993.
  9. Paul Reuss, Neutron Physics. EDP Sciences, 2008. ISBN: 978-2759800414.

Advanced Reactor Physics:

  1. K. O. Ott, W. A. Bezella, Introductory Nuclear Reactor Statics, American Nuclear Society, Revised edition (1989), 1989, ISBN: 0-894-48033-2.
  2. K. O. Ott, R. J. Neuhold, Introductory Nuclear Reactor Dynamics, American Nuclear Society, 1985, ISBN: 0-894-48029-4.
  3. D. L. Hetrick, Dynamics of Nuclear Reactors, American Nuclear Society, 1993, ISBN: 0-894-48453-2. 
  4. E. E. Lewis, W. F. Miller, Computational Methods of Neutron Transport, American Nuclear Society, 1993, ISBN: 0-894-48452-4.

See above:

Chemical Properties