Electronegativity Chart

The electronegativity chart describes how atoms can attract a pair of electrons to itself, by looking at the periodic table you can identify and determine electronegativity values of elements from 0 to 4.

The Periodic Table contains a lot more information than merely the names of each of the chemical elements. A key piece of information they contain is the electronegativity value of each of the elements.

Electronegativity values run from 0 to 4.

What Is Electronegativity?

Electronegativity values are used for two main reasons. The first reason to examine the bond between different atoms to predict whether the bond will be covalent (molecular) or ionic. The electron pairs that result in a covalent bond are also known as bonding pairs or shared pairs. There are many kinds of interactions involving covalent or molecular bonds.

But when you pair up ions that are oppositely charged attracted electrostatically, then you would get what is known as an ionic compound. The atoms that have either gained or lost one or more electrons are known as ions. When atoms have gained at least one electron, they are known as anions. And the atoms that are lost at least one electron are known as cations. While anions are negatively charged, cations are positively charged.

The electron can no longer be conceived as a single, small granule of electricity; it must be associated with a wave, and his wave is no myth; its wavelength can be measured and its interferences predicted. – Louise de Broglie

And the second reason is to predict if the molecule that results from the bond between atoms will be polar or nonpolar. A polar bond, when it is complete is also known as an ionic bond. But polar or nonpolar is normally applied to covalent (molecular) bonds. A nonpolar bond is the result of a zero difference in electronegativity. To establish the polarity of a bond, you would need to check out the difference in electronegativity between the atoms involved.

Electronegativity Chart

The electronegativity chart can be organized in the same order as the periodic table, but it can also be rearranged so that it shows the elements according to their electronegativity value. This later version may be more useful and easier to review than the periodic table itself if we are just interested in checking out the electronegativity value of each of the elements and nothing else.

“Protons give an atom its identity, electrons its personality.” — Bill Bryson

So, what follows is the chart with electronegativity values ordered from highest to lowest. The number of each element in the original periodic table is also included to make it easier to locate each element.  Some elements do not have an electronegativity value, so we have placed those at the bottom of the chart in the same order that they are displayed on the Periodic Table.

We hope you enjoyed this roundup of electronegativity values and this answered all of your questions. Still have more questions about electronegativity? Leave them in the comments below and we’ll try to answer them!