Electron affinity vs electronegativity

[Clarice Chui 2C]

What is the difference between electron affinity and electronegativity?

[Andrew Pfeiffer 2E]

Electron affinity is the change in energy (in kJ per mole) when an electron is added to a neutral atom (in the gas phase) to make a positive ion.

Electronegativity simply is the tendency to attract shared electrons (or a distribution of electrons) toward itself.

Both of them share the same trend (increasing up a column and to the right in a period), which is why they might be confused.

Hope this helped!

[Jonathan Gong 2H]

Electronegativity is the tendency of an atom to attract electrons to itself. On the other hand, electron affinity is the measurement of the energy required when an electron is added to a neutral atom or molecule in the gaseous state to make it a negative ion. Hope this helps.

[sarahsalama2E]

Do we need to know the actual or formal definitions of terms like this for the exam?

[Julie Park 1G]

It would probably help to be able to know the general definition as well as the periodic trends for these traits (and why they generally follow those trends).

They both follow the same periodic trends:
Both increase from left to right
Both increase from the bottom to the top

In a late quantum review session, the TA briefly covered Atomic Radius and Ionic Radius trends as well as electronegativity, electron affinity, and ionization energy trends.

[AGaeta_2C]

I think it'd be best to know the definitions in your own words and to be able to identify the trends of each across the periodic table. I doubt we need to memorize the definitions word for word tho..

[Jose Robles 1D]

I don't think you'll need to memorize this as much versus other material in the book. This is more of a concept to understand and can be done by looking up one of many periodic tables that define trends online. Just memorize the trends across the periodic table in case a problem is given of it.

[britthanul234]

You just need to know the general concept and idea behind it. Know the trends as well.