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Question: How does electronegativity relate to nonpolar covalent bonds?...

How does electronegativity relate to nonpolar covalent bonds?

Explanation

Solution

Electronegativity can be defined as the tendency of an atom in a molecule to attract the shared pair of electrons towards itself and electronegativity is said to be a dimensionless property because it is only a tendency.

Complete answer:
Electronegativity represents the net result of the tendencies of atoms in different elements to attract the bond-forming electron pairs. We measure electronegativity on the scale designed by Linus Pauling. According to this scale fluorine is the most electronegative element with a value of 4.0 and cesium is the least electronegative element with a value of 0.7.
The strength of a covalent bond is highly dependent on the electronegativities of the two bonded atoms or we can say that the difference between the electronegativities of the bonded atoms. A nonpolar covalent bond is defined as a type of chemical bond which is formed when electrons are shared equally between two atoms. Thus in an atom the number of electrons shared by the adjacent atoms will be the same.
The covalent bond is also termed as nonpolar because the difference in electronegativity is mostly negligible. Which means that there is no separation of charges between the two atoms or both the atoms have similar electronegativity. This type of bond is also formed when atoms that share a polar bond arrange themselves in such a manner that electric charges between them tend to cancel each other out.

Note:
Covalent bonds between two species of varying electronegativities tend to become polarized. This happens because the more electronegative atom pulls the bond pair of electrons closer to itself by developing a partially negative charge and positive charge on them.