Electronegativity vs. Electron affinity

[Andrea_1H]

Is there a difference between electronegativity and electron affinity?

[Abigail_Hagen2G]

Yes, electron negativity is the ability to attract paired electrons, while electron affinity is the energy used when an electron is added.

[TanveerDhaliwal3G]

Electronegativity is the tendency of an atom to attract a bonding pair of electrons while electron affinity is the energy required/released when an electron attaches to an atom(measured in eV).

[Hannah Pham]

The difference is that electronegativity is the ability of an atom to attract electrons towards itself while electron affinity is the amount of energy released when an atom gains an electron.

[JOtomo1F]

Do these two terms have the same trends across the periodic table?

[Ethan Low 1L]

Electronegativity is the ability of an atom to attract electrons towards itself whereas electron affinity is the amount of energy released when an atom gains an electron.

[Megan_1F]

I tend to associate electronegativity with covalent bonding and electron affinity with ionic bonding. Both have the same trends in the periodic table.

[Victoria Li 1L]

There's a post from last year on the same topic: https://lavelle.chem.ucla.edu/forum/viewtopic.php?t=35085

I think it has to do more with whether the atoms in question are bonded or not. However, they do have the same trend (increasing across, decreasing down).

[005162902]

They are very different. Electron affinity is the energy released when an atom gains an electron. Electronegativity is the atom's tendency to attract a electrons from other elements and is based on the elements location on the periodic table.