Difference between electronegativity and electron affinity

[805601399]

This may be a silly question but what is the difference between electronegativity and electron affinity? I've always just assumed that they were the same thing.

[azurexrose]

Electronegativity refers to how much an atom pulls electrons towards it when in a covalent bond. Electron affinity is how much energy is released by an atom when an electron is added to it.

[Raymond_Kallely_1A]

Electronegativity can be thought of as the amount of energy needed to remove an electron from an atom, where as electron affinity is more about the amount of energy an atom gains when an electron is added to it. They work on the same trends, with both electronegativity and electron affinity increasing as you go up a period and towards the right.

[Chelsea Greene 1L]

Not a silly question! They are similar. Electronegativity is the power an atom has to attract electrons, where electron affinity is the change in energy when an electron is added to a neutral atom.

[Natalie Quilala 1I]

Electronegativity is the electron pulling power of a specific element. Electron affinity is the energy required to add an electron to an atom. They follow relatively the same periodic trend by increasing up a group and across a period.

[Brooklyn Burgess 3L]

Electronegativity relates to the pulling of an electron to an atom, and is directly proportional to the electron affinity, which is the energy released when an electron is pulled in. Elements with high electron affinity and large electronegativity are at the top right corner of the periodic table.

[cnyland]

They have the similar trend!