Questions tagged [electronegativity]

Refers to ability for an atom in a covalent framework to attract electron density to itself. Do not conflate with electron affinity, which is the ability of a lone atom (or molecule) to attract an electron to itself. Both are measured in joules/mole.

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Why does C2H3Li + HBr go to completion but C2H3Na + HBr doesn't? [closed]

The reaction between $\ce{C2H3Li + HBr}$ forms lithium and bromoethane, just like $\ce{C2H4 + HBrC}$ forms bromoethane. However, $\ce{C2H4NaBr}$ and $\ce{C2H4KBr}$ does not seem to exist? I'm assuming ...
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Inductive effect - Why does -CH=CH₂ show -I effect, while -C-D shows +I effect (D is deuterium)?

Inductive effect - Why does -CH=CH₂ show -I effect, while -C-D shows +I effect (D is deuterium) ? Explanation given for alkene group seems to be bond shortening in sp2 versus sp3 https://www.quora.com/...
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Distinction between Ionic and Covalent Bonds? [duplicate]

I've read that all bonds consist of both Ionic and Covalent characters to some degree and that there is no clear distinction between the two. However, I want to research this more and cannot determine ...
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Order of acidity of chloroacetic, acetic, formic and propanoic acid in terms of their electronegativity and inductive effect

What is the order of acidity of chloroacetic, acetic, formic and propanoic acid in terms of their electronegativity and inductive effect? This is my explanation: Propanoic acid is the weakest acid ...
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Hannay smith equation derivation

Our chemistry teacher taught us about Hannay smith equation for calculating the percent ionic character. He did not told how that equation was derived. I could not find any satisfactory result from ...
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Can it be said that an electron transfer between two neutral atoms comes from the neutral atomic electric field? [closed]

Let us consider the example of Na and Cl. Both atoms are called "neutral" simply because they have the same total number of protons as electrons, yet they have a very weak electric field ...
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Why Hg doesn’t form hydroxide?

In my textbook it was written that if you put alkali solution into Hg2+ solution you won't get Hg(OH)2 but you get HgO. And this is because Hg has high electronegativity and this makes polarization of ...
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Can Polarizing Power and the Inductive Effect both explain the highly covalent bonds of Mn2O7?

The Mn-O bonds of Mn2O7 have more covalent character than those of MnO2. This makes sense when imagining Mn2O7 to consist of Mn7+ ions and O2- ions; the high charge of the cations give them a high ...
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Does the charge on an atom impact the polarization of covalent bonds?

So far, I have generally seen polarization power only discussed in terms of ionic bonds: small, highly charged cations have more polarization power, and large anions are more polarizable. The more ...
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Alternate electronegativity measures for exotic atoms?

An exotic atom is an otherwise normal atom in which one or more sub-atomic particles have been replaced by other particles of the same charge. For example, electrons may be replaced by other ...
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Why an atom is more stable when only sublevels s and p are full?

Supposedly when explaining electronegativity and stability of an element, they tell you that it is more stable if the last level is full. That works up to the third period, but after transition ...
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Why do CCl4 and CH4 have the same bond angle?

I was reading about the molecular shape of compounds. I learned that the electronegativity of the central atom and the terminal atom in a molecule both play a role in determining bond angle. In $\ce{...
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How to experimentally determine the dissociation energy (electronegativity) between identical atoms?

I was reading on Wikipedia about how Pauling electronegativities are determined through $$ \vert \chi_\ce{A} - \chi_\ce{B} \vert = \sqrt{E_\mathrm{d}(\ce{AB}) - \frac{E_\mathrm{d}(\ce{AA}) + E_\mathrm{...
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Electronegativity, polarity, pi bonds, and nitriles

While googling some numbers, I found that the dipole moment of acetonitrile is, according to wikipedia 3.92D. Compare this to the dipole moment of ethylamine, according to NIST of 1.220D. Now, I've ...
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Why water doesn't break anionic part of oxyacids? [closed]

Recently, I was studying about oxyacids and my teacher took example of a general compound $\ce{X-O-H}$. He told that that on dissolving it into water ,water would break apart either $\ce{O-H}$ bond ...
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Relation of partial charge with wavefunction

Suppose we have an one electron system. The probability $P$ that electron's position is in some interval $x + dx$ is given by: $$P = \int_x^{x+dx}|Ψ(x)|^2 dx$$ So if we measure $N$ times the electron'...
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Quantitatively Calculate Dipole Moment [duplicate]

Recently, I have been reading up on articles relating to the dipole moments of different molecules (specifically this). I see how they can get bond lengths and experimental dipole moments with ...
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How come the methyl group (-CH3) is electron donating?

If the inductive effect operates purely through electronegativity differences, how come the methyl group is considered to donate electrons through the inductive effect? My textbook says that there is ...
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Why is it technically inaccurate to say that the decrease in reactivity of halogens is due to decreasing electronegativity?

I came across the following information in this post. Below the infographic there is a paragraph with a disclaimer: As another disclaimer, the reactivity of the halogens decreasing down the group ...
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Applying the Pauling's electronegativity when the ionisation enthalpy and electron gain enthalpy of an element are given

I came across the following problem while practicing some exercises on inorganic chemistry: If the ionization enthalpy and electron gain enthalpy of an element are 275 and 86 $Kcal mol^{-1}$ ...
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Which oxidation states were used when Pauling developed his electronegativity scale?

Paulings electronegativity is a relative scale, based on the difference in electronegativity between X and Y, $\Delta EN = 0.102 \sqrt {\Delta}$, where $\Delta = (X-Y)_{measured}-(X-Y)_{theoretical}$ ...
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Would gold have the negative charge in gold phosphides?

It should make sense that phosphorus has the positive charge,and gold itself should have the negative charge in gold phosphide(and for any other gold phosphides) because phosphorus has a lower ...
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Acidic character and anion stability across periods and groups of the periodic table [duplicate]

I understand that to compare relative acidity one must consider the stability of the conjugate bases. Across a period the electronegativity of an element increases. And that is for example why $\ce{HF}...
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Oxidizing properties of sulfuric acid: can it oxidize hydrochloric acid to chlorine?

Can $\ce{H2SO4}$ oxidize $\ce{HCl}$ to $\ce{Cl2}$? I know that $\ce{KMnO4}$ can do it, but my question is considering $\ce{H2SO4}$. In sulfuric acid, sulphur is in +6 oxidation state and in $\ce{KMnO4}...
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Why is a sodium chloride molecule stable?

The ionization energy of sodium is $\pu{5.139eV}$. This is the energy absorbed when a neutral sodium atom is stripped of its outermost electron. The electron affinity of chlorine is $\pu{3.62eV}$. ...
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Why negative charge delocalises away from electronegative atoms

In the mechanism for the Wolff-Kishner reduction, after the $\ce{OH-}$ abstracts a proton, the resulting negative charge delocalises away from the nitrogen atom to the carbon, and the subsequent ...
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Which atoms in indole possess the greatest amount of electron density?

Presumably the amine acts as an electron donor, but that would suggest extra electron density of the adjacent carbons, making them more shield, which isn't seen in the results in the image below. ...
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Why is the intensity of the IR spectra of IBr higher than that of ICl?

Why is the intensity of the IR spectra of $\ce{IBr}$ higher than that of $\ce{ICl}$? I know that the IR spectra intensities are proportional to the derivative of the dipole moment with internuclear ...
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Which is more electronegative, Anions or Cations? [closed]

Electronegativity is the tendency of atoms in covalent bonds to attract electrons closer to themselves (I'll admit I realised ions do not form covalent bonds only after I finished writing). ...
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Why is HF much more covalent than KI despite having a greater electronegativity difference? [duplicate]

Generally, the percent of ionic character in a two-element compound correlates quite well with the difference in the electronegativities of the two elements making up the compound, as can be seen in ...
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Does formal charge affect bond polarity?

Bond polarity, as far as I understand, is a measure of the degree to which shared electron density is distorted, and thus solely depends on the electronegativity difference. Up until now, I had ...
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Alternatives to Bayer process for extracting aluminum from lunar regolith

I am exploring ways to produce metallic aluminum from lunar regolith. According to most published results of lunar soil, $\ce{ Al2O3}$ comprises roughly 14% of mare samples by mass with $\ce{SiO2}$ ...
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How can chlorine be 'only' the third-most electronegative element yet have the highest electron affinity?

From Wikipedia: It is an extremely reactive element and a strong oxidising agent: among the elements, it has the highest electron affinity and the third-highest electronegativity on the Pauling scale,...
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Is this bond Ionic or Covalent, and why? AlBr [closed]

We know a compound could form between NaCl because they are +1 and -1 ions which make them both into a complete valence set. Could a compound form between Al and Br, for example, and what type of bond ...
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Why is aluminium oxide solution amphoteric? [duplicate]

Is Aluminium oxide solution amphoteric due to aluminium's electronegativity being in between 1.5 and 2.1. If so why? I believe it is because a AL-O-H molecule is made and it can either disassociate ...
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Is selenium disulfide polar or non-polar?

So I saw in some internet site that $\ce{SeS2}$ is a polar molecule. When I drew the Lewis structure of the molecule, it showed up as a linear molecule like this: $$\ce{S=Se=S}$$ The electronegativity ...
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Why is the carbon fluorine bond stronger than the carbon oxygen bond?

From this wiredchemist.com, I obtained values of the bond dissociation energies of the $\ce{C-O}$ and $\ce{C-F}$ bonds: \begin{align} D_0(\ce{C-F}) &= \pu{485 KJ mol-1}\\ D_0(\ce{C-O}) &= \...
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What kind of bond exists between a metal and a non-metal with a difference in electronegativity of less than 1.7? [duplicate]

I'm being taught that the kind of bonds that exist between elements depends on the electronegativity difference between the elements. A difference less than 1.7 is covalent and a difference higher ...
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If Electronegativity of Cl is greater than H2 then why is the bond angle of Cl2O greater than H2O? [duplicate]

If Electronegativity of Cl is greater than H2 then why is the bond angle of Cl2O greater than H2O? Cl2 has more EN than H2 and size of Cl2 is more than H2 but if we go according to EN then more angle ...
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comparing electronegativity for row elements and size of the atom for column elements

I have read that while comparing atoms in a row we compare their electronegativities to know which atom would better stabilize a negative charge on it, and for atoms in a column we compare their sizes....
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What is the reason for decrease in electron donating tendency with increase in no. Of bonds [closed]

The order of electron donating tendency with polar protic solvent goes as $$\ce{RCH2 > RCH=CH > RC=C-}$$ However, I think that with the increase in the number of bonds the electronegativity ...
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Why is the electronegativity of potassium and rubidium same?

The electronegativity of potassium and rubidium is reckoned at 0.82 for both. Why is it same for both of them? Shouldn't it be less for rubidium as compared to potassium owing to the addition of one ...
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Why do you count both bonding electrons towards an atom's octet, but you only count one of them towards the atom's charge? [duplicate]

For example, oxygen is neutral when it has just 6 electrons. But the pink O in the molecule pictured has 3 bonds giving it 8 electrons, a full-octet. It's more electronegative than all the atoms it's ...
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bonding in polar covalent bonds

I have recently learned that pure ionic and covalent bonds are just the extremes of a spectrum of bonds from this article from Chemguide. But I can't seem to square this with my understanding of how ...
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Why are Tyrosine and Tryptophan considered hydrophobic?

Since Tyrosine and Tryptophan are amino acids, their polarity is determined on their side chains or R groups. If their R groups are polar, the amino acid is polar. Both Tyrosine and Tryptophan are ...
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How do you know what elements will bond in a reaction? [closed]

I know all about the types of reactions, synthesis, decomp. etc., but when a bond is broken, how do you know that the free element will bond to another molecule? Is it because that element has a ...
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Is there an error in a Wikipedia article explaining the influence of oxidation states?

Referring to the series of oxoacids of chlorine: $\ce{HClO, HClO2, HClO3},$ and $\ce{HClO4}$, tabulated in the Wikipedia article on electronegativity, the article states, in the section near the end ...
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Why is CH4 Nonpolar but CH2Cl2 is polar?

I keep reading that the reason why $\ce{CH2Cl2}$ is polar because due to its tetrahedral shape, the dipoles can not cancel each other out but doesn't $\ce{CH4}$ also have tetrahedral shape too? I ...
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How many sodium ions is each oxygen atom attracted to in aqueous sodium chloride? [closed]

When $\ce{NaCl}$ salt is dissolved in water the $\ce{Cl-}$ and $\ce{Na+}$ ions and the polar $\ce{H2O}$ molecules are attracted to each other such that each $\ce{Na+}$ ion attracts several oxygen ...
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Covalent bond nature in electronegativity gap

Does a large difference in electronegativity mean the covalent bond is weaker? In a covalent bond between two atoms of different electronegativities, the bonding electrons are pulled towards the more ...
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