BharatNotes Electronegativity
noun (uncountable, chiefly chemistry/physics)Usage in a UPSC answer
Just as electronegativity describes an atom's unequal pull on shared electrons, an over-centralised polity exerts a comparable fiscal pull, drawing the bulk of revenue and discretionary authority towards the Union and leaving the States to bond on increasingly unequal terms.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Word Family
electronegative (adj), electronegativity (n), electropositive (adj), negative (adj), negation (n)
Root
Greek ēlektron = amber (electro-); Latin negātīvus = denying; -ity = quality; Pauling concept 1932
Etymology
From electro- (Greek ēlektron, "amber") + negativity (from Latin negātīvus, "denying"), formulated as a concept by Linus Pauling in 1932.
Memory Hook
Break it down: ELECTRO-NEGATIVE atom is "greedy and negative" — it selfishly hogs the negatively-charged electrons. High electronegativity = the atom that "negatively" refuses to share its electrons (think fluorine, the greediest of all).
How This Word Works in UPSC Writing
The tendency of an atom to attract the shared pair of electrons in a covalent bond towards itself, expressed on the Pauling scale where fluorine is the highest. Its value lies in predicting bond character from a difference rather than memorising bond types: where the difference between two atoms is negligible the bond is non-polar covalent, a moderate difference makes it polar covalent with partial charges, and a large difference makes electron transfer complete enough to call the bond ionic. There is no sharp boundary between these, which is the point, since bonding is a continuum rather than three separate categories. The periodic trends follow from atomic structure, increasing across a period as nuclear charge rises while the shell stays the same, and decreasing down a group as the valence shell moves further from the nucleus and inner shells screen it.
Don’t Confuse It With
Electronegativity is a relative tendency shown by an atom within a bond, and is not measured directly. Electron affinity is the actual energy change when an isolated gaseous atom gains an electron, so it is a measurable quantity for a free atom rather than a property in a bond. Ionisation energy is the energy needed to remove an electron, the opposite direction. Electropositivity is the tendency to lose electrons, characteristic of metals. Polarity is the result electronegativity difference produces in a bond.
Hindi Meaning
विद्युत ऋणात्मकता (vidyut rinātmaktā); विद्युत धनात्मकता for electropositivity.
Common Questions
- What is electronegativity?
- The tendency of an atom to attract the shared pair of electrons in a chemical bond towards itself, with fluorine highest on the Pauling scale.
- How does electronegativity vary in the periodic table?
- It increases across a period as nuclear charge rises, and decreases down a group as the valence shell moves further from the nucleus and is screened by inner shells.
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