Question

How does electronegativity affect covalent bonding?

Answer 1

As we know that electronegativity is basically the tendency of an atom to attract the shared pair of electrons towards itself. It is found that Fluorine is the most electronegativity element.

Complete answer:
- As we know that electronegativity differences affect the sharing of electrons in covalent-bonding. Generally, it is found that the more equal the sharing in between the atoms, the stronger the bond formed.
- It is found that if the two atoms are having the same value of electronegativity, then the bond that formed will be a pure covalent bond.
- We can take an example of $H{}_{2}$ , here H:H. We can see that as the difference in electronegativity is zero, so the bond which is formed by the pair of electrons that is one from each atom is shared equally between the two hydrogens.
As we know that if the electronegativity value of two atoms are almost the same, it is still a covalent bond even though the sharing is not exactly equal.
- It is found that if the electronegativity difference between atoms is significant, then the bond created is a polar covalent bond. For example, as that formed in water.

Note:
- It is found that electronegativity is a dimensionless property, as it is only a tendency.
- As we know that when we move down the group in the periodic table, electronegativity value decreases. Whereas, electronegativity value basically increases as we move from left to the right side of the periodic table.