Chemguide: Electronegativity

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Detail Page

written by Jim Clark

This web page explains the concept of electronegativity, the ability of an atom to attract electrons to itself. This concept is key to a qualitative understanding of chemical bonds, because the type of bond formed is largely determined by the difference between the electronegativities of the atoms involved. The tutorial explores patterns of electronegativity in the Periodic Table and includes a question set with answers for self-guided study.

This page is part of Chemguide, an informational website developed by a veteran high school teacher to promote deeper understanding of concepts in introductory and intermediate-level chemistry.

https://www.chemguide.co.uk/atoms/bonding/electroneg.html

Subjects	Levels	Resource Types
General Physics - Properties of Matter Other Sciences - Chemistry	- High School - Lower Undergraduate	- Instructional Material = Problem/Problem Set = Tutorial - Assessment Material = Test

Appropriate Courses	Categories	Ratings
- Conceptual Physics - Algebra-based Physics - AP Physics	- Activity - New teachers	Currently 0.0/5 Want to rate this material? Login here!

Intended Users:: Educator
Learner
Formats:: text/html
application/pdf
Access Rights:: Free access
Restriction:: © 2001 Jim Clark
Keywords:: Pauling scale, Periodic Table, chemical bond, chemistry tutorial, covalent bond, electronegativity scale, ionic bond, polar bond, tutorial
Record Cloner:: Metadata instance created February 20, 2013 by Caroline Hall
Record Updated:: August 10, 2020 by Lyle Barbato

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AAAS Benchmark Alignments (2008 Version)

4. The Physical Setting

4D. The Structure of Matter

6-8: 4D/M10. A substance has characteristic properties such as density, a boiling point, and solubility, all of which are independent of the amount of the substance and can be used to identify it.
9-12: 4D/H7b. An enormous variety of biological, chemical, and physical phenomena can be explained by changes in the arrangement and motion of atoms and molecules.

10. Historical Perspectives

10F. Understanding Fire

9-12: 10F/H5. Since Lavoisier and Dalton, the system for describing chemical reactions has been vastly extended to account for the configuration taken by atoms when they bond to one another and to describe the inner workings of atoms that account for why they bond as they do.

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<a href="https://www.compadre.org/precollege/items/detail.cfm?ID=12622">Clark, Jim. Chemguide: Electronegativity. 2001.</a>

AIP Format

J. Clark, (2001), WWW Document, (https://www.chemguide.co.uk/atoms/bonding/electroneg.html).

AJP/PRST-PER

J. Clark, Chemguide: Electronegativity (2001), <https://www.chemguide.co.uk/atoms/bonding/electroneg.html>.

APA Format

Clark, J. (2001). Chemguide: Electronegativity. Retrieved March 19, 2025, from https://www.chemguide.co.uk/atoms/bonding/electroneg.html

Chicago Format

Clark, Jim. Chemguide: Electronegativity. 2001. https://www.chemguide.co.uk/atoms/bonding/electroneg.html (accessed 19 March 2025).

MLA Format

Clark, Jim. Chemguide: Electronegativity. 2001. 19 Mar. 2025 <https://www.chemguide.co.uk/atoms/bonding/electroneg.html>.

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@misc{ Author = "Jim Clark", Title = {Chemguide: Electronegativity}, Volume = {2025}, Number = {19 March 2025}, Year = {2001} }

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%A Jim Clark %T Chemguide: Electronegativity %D 2001 %U https://www.chemguide.co.uk/atoms/bonding/electroneg.html %O text/html

EndNote Export Format

%0 Electronic Source %A Clark, Jim %D 2001 %T Chemguide: Electronegativity %V 2025 %N 19 March 2025 %9 text/html %U https://www.chemguide.co.uk/atoms/bonding/electroneg.html

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