Defining electronegativity

[emaad_3H]

Is electronegativity a measure of an element's desire for a new electron or how strongly it's holding onto the electrons it already has?

[Shimei_2F]

Electronegativity is a measure of how strongly atoms attract bonding electrons to themselves.

[Anna Chen 1K]

Electronegativity is the tendency of an atom to attract a bonding pair of electrons.

[Asia Yamada 2B]

Electronegativity is how strongly an atom attracts electrons from other atoms.

[Vanshika Bhushan 1A]

Electronegativity is a measure of the attraction of an atom for bonding electrons in molecules compared to that of other atoms. Large electronegativity values represent a stronger attraction for electrons than small electronegativity values. Electronegativities increase from left to right across the periodic table.

[Shiley_David_1D]

Is electronegativity a measure of an element's desire for a new electron or how strongly it's holding onto the electrons it already has?

Hello!

I am going to answer the question directly and then put the definition into an example to offer a new perspective and help us both to consider electronegativity in a new and memorable light! Firstly, Electronegativity is a measure of an atom's ability to attract shared electrons to itself. On the periodic table, electronegativity generally increases as you move from left to right across a period and decreases as you move down a group. Rephrased, electronegativity is a chemical property that says how well an atom can attract electrons towards itself. The electronegativity of an atom is influenced by the atom's atomic number and the distance between the atom's valence electrons (the outermost electrons that take part in chemical bonding) and its nucleus. Additionally, Electronegativity and ionization energy follow the same periodic table trend. Elements that have low ionization energies tend to have low electro-negativities. The nuclei of these atoms don't exert a strong pull on electrons.

As an example, the chlorine atom has a higher electronegativity than the hydrogen atom, so the bonding electrons will be closer to the Cl than to the H in the HCl molecule.

Hope this helps!

[Maddie Klee 3K]

Electronegativity is a measure of how strongly an atom attracts electrons from other atoms.