kiron Posted July 27, 2008 Report Share Posted July 27, 2008 Can someone explain to me why Chlorine has a higher electron affinity but lower electronegativity compared to Nitrogen? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
srindogg@hotmail.com Posted July 27, 2008 Report Share Posted July 27, 2008 Electronegativity is a measure of how tightly the atom can hold on to its electrons - increases as you go right and up on the periodic table FON - are the three most electronegative atoms, only they are capable of hydrogen bonding. Electron affinity is a measure of how much does an atom want an extra electron, if it really wants it, it will undergo a large reduction in energy i.e more stable. This one's more difficult to predict but you can get a rough estimate by seeing what the extra electron will to the octet. Cl will get complete octet if it gets an electron, so it has a high electron affinity as do all halogens. Nitrogen just gets 6 electrons so doesn't have a super high electron affinity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avinash Posted July 27, 2008 Report Share Posted July 27, 2008 Just to add to that... Reason for higher electronegativity: The highest energy valence electrons are in 2p for both, except the chlorine nucleus has more protons (positive charge), so therefore it holds the electrons (negative) better, giving it a higher electronegativity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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