Question

The most electronegative element in the periodic table is:
A.Nitrogen
B.Oxygen
C.Chlorine
D.Fluorine

Answer 1

Hint: You should try to recall the position of these elements in the periodic table and keep in mind that the electronegativity increases when we move left to right in a period. Now you should try to answer this accordingly.

Complete step by step answer:
-Electronegativity is a concept that describes the tendency of an atom to attract a shared pair of electrons (or electron density) towards itself.
-On the periodic table, electronegativity generally increases as you move from left to right across a period (This is because, even though there is the same number of energy levels, there are more positive protons in the nucleus, creating a stronger pull on the negative electrons in the outer shell.) and decreases as you move down a group (due to increase in the distance between the nucleus and the valence electron shell, thereby decreasing the attraction, making the atom have less of an attraction for electrons or protons). As a result, the most electronegative elements are found on the top right of the periodic table, while the least electronegative elements are found on the bottom left.
Let’s discuss each option in this question -
Option A, Nitrogen is the chemical element with the symbol N and atomic number 7. On the Pauling scale, Nitrogen is assigned an electronegativity of 3.04.
Option B, Oxygen is the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8. On the Pauling scale, Oxygen is assigned an electronegativity of 3.44.
Option C, Chlorine is a chemical element with the symbol Cl and atomic number 17. On the Pauling scale, Chlorine is assigned an electronegativity of 3.16.
Option D, Fluorine is the most electronegative element on the periodic table, which means that it is a very strong oxidizing. Fluorine has an electronegativity of 3.98.


Therefore, we can conclude that the correct answer to this question is option D.


Note:
The Pauling scale is a numerical scale of electronegativities based on bond-energy calculations for different elements joined by covalent bonds.