Nhi Vo 4G wrote:What is the difference between electron affinity and electronegativity?
They seem similar to me.
If you would review the notes under "electron configuration and periodicity of atomic properties" and "ionic vs. covalent bonds" and read sections 2.11 Electron Affinity and 3.12 Correcting the Covalent Model: Electronegativity, you would see that you're looking at the same phenomenon from two different perspectives:
Electron affinity is the energy released when an electron is added to a neutral gas-phase atom.
if this is
positive, energy is
released when electron is added to atom.
if this is
negative, energy must be
supplied to push an electron onto an atom.
Electronegativity is the tendency of an atom to pull electrons (specifically when it is
part of a molecule.)
When this is
high, electrons tend to be
pulled by the atom.
when this is
low, electrons tend to be
pushed away from the atom.
Put simply, electron affinity and electronegativity are
directly related. If electron affinity is positive (and/or high), electronegativity is high, and vice versa.
Hope that helps~