Periodic Table Trends: Electronegativity and Atomic Properties
This page explores three fundamental atomic properties and their trends across the periodic table. The content focuses on electronegativity, covalent radii, and ionisation energy, explaining how these properties change both down groups and across periods.
Definition: Electronegativity is the measure of an atom's attraction to bonding electrons when involved in a chemical bond.
Highlight: Down a group, electronegativity decreases because additional electron shells create greater shielding from the nuclear charge.
Example: Across a period, electronegativity increases as nuclear charge becomes stronger, pulling electrons closer to the nucleus.
Vocabulary: Covalent radii refers to half the distance between two covalently bonded atomic nuclei.
Definition: Ionisation energy is the energy required to remove one mole of electrons from one mole of gaseous atoms.
The page presents a comprehensive overview of how these properties change systematically across the periodic table, with clear explanations of the underlying causes for these trends.