Questions on Electronegativity
Multiple-Choice Questions: Electronegativity in the Periodic Table
🔹 Basic Concepts
1. What is electronegativity?
A) The ability of an atom to lose electrons
B) The ability of an atom to attract shared electrons in a bond
C) The energy required to remove an electron
D) The number of valence electrons
E) The size of the atomic nucleus
2. Which element has the highest electronegativity?
A) Oxygen
B) Nitrogen
C) Fluorine
D) Neon
E) Chlorine
3. Electronegativity values are highest in which region of the periodic table?
A) Lower left
B) Upper left
C) Lower right
D) Upper right
E) Middle
4. Which of the following elements is the least electronegative?
A) Sodium
B) Cesium
C) Aluminum
D) Calcium
E) Magnesium
5. Which type of elements generally have high electronegativity?
A) Alkali metals
B) Noble gases
C) Halogens
D) Transition metals
E) Lanthanides
🔹 Periodic Trends
6. Electronegativity generally __________ across a period from left to right.
A) Decreases
B) Increases
C) Stays the same
D) First increases, then decreases
E) Has no trend
7. Electronegativity generally __________ down a group.
A) Increases
B) Decreases
C) Remains constant
D) Increases only for nonmetals
E) Increases only for gases
8. Which of the following elements is more electronegative than sulfur?
A) Phosphorus
B) Chlorine
C) Selenium
D) Sodium
E) Magnesium
9. Why does electronegativity increase across a period?
A) More electrons are added to outer shells
B) Atomic radius increases
C) Nuclear charge increases, pulling electrons more strongly
D) More shielding occurs
E) Electron affinity decreases
10. Which element is more electronegative than carbon but less than fluorine?
A) Oxygen
B) Boron
C) Hydrogen
D) Nitrogen
E) Lithium
🔹 Comparative Analysis
11. Which of these elements has the lowest electronegativity?
A) Lithium
B) Beryllium
C) Cesium
D) Potassium
E) Calcium
12. Which of the following has the highest electronegativity?
A) Oxygen
B) Sulfur
C) Phosphorus
D) Nitrogen
E) Chlorine
13. Electronegativity is generally not assigned to which group?
A) Group 1
B) Group 2
C) Group 17
D) Group 18
E) Group 16
14. Which factor does not directly affect electronegativity?
A) Atomic radius
B) Nuclear charge
C) Shielding effect
D) Ionization energy
E) Boiling point
15. Which of the following is true about electronegativity and atomic radius?
A) As atomic radius increases, electronegativity increases
B) There is no relation
C) Smaller atoms tend to have higher electronegativity
D) Larger atoms have higher nuclear charge, so higher electronegativity
E) Electronegativity is unaffected by size
🔹 Applications
16. Which pair of elements would form a highly polar bond?
A) H and C
B) Na and Cl
C) O and N
D) C and Si
E) B and Al
17. Which of the following pairs has the smallest electronegativity difference?
A) Na and F
B) H and Cl
C) Cl and Br
D) Li and O
E) K and F
18. A bond between two atoms with equal electronegativity is:
A) Ionic
B) Covalent and nonpolar
C) Covalent and polar
D) Metallic
E) Hydrogen bond
19. Which element has the strongest attraction for electrons in a chemical bond?
A) Fluorine
B) Hydrogen
C) Oxygen
D) Chlorine
E) Nitrogen
20. Which element would you expect to be the least reactive based on electronegativity?
A) Fluorine
B) Oxygen
C) Helium
D) Chlorine
E) Bromine
Answers with Explanations
1. B – Electronegativity is the tendency of an atom to attract electrons in a chemical bond.
2. C – Fluorine is the most electronegative element (value ~3.98 on the Pauling scale).
3. D – Electronegativity is highest in the upper right (excluding noble gases).
4. B – Cesium has one of the lowest electronegativity values.
5. C – Halogens are highly electronegative because they need one more electron to complete their valence shells.
6. B – Electronegativity increases across a period due to increasing nuclear charge and smaller atomic radii.
7. B – It decreases down a group because of increasing atomic size and shielding effect.
8. B – Chlorine is more electronegative than sulfur.
9. C – As protons increase across a period, the nucleus pulls bonding electrons more strongly.
10. A – Oxygen is more electronegative than carbon, but less than fluorine.
11. C – Cesium, at the bottom-left corner, has the lowest electronegativity.
12. E – Chlorine is the most electronegative among the choices.
13. D – Group 18 (noble gases) generally do not form bonds and thus have no standard electronegativity values.
14. E – Boiling point is not directly related to electronegativity.
15. C – Smaller atoms attract bonding electrons more strongly due to less shielding and higher effective nuclear charge.
16. B – The large difference between Na and Cl electronegativity leads to a highly polar (ionic) bond.
17. C – Cl and Br are in the same group and close in size, so their electronegativities are similar.
18. B – Equal electronegativity leads to a nonpolar covalent bond.
19. A – Fluorine has the greatest tendency to attract bonding electrons.
20. C – Helium, as a noble gas, has full orbitals and does not attract electrons in bonding situations.
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