Scientists create a new electronegativity scale

ISLAMABAD – Skoltech chemists have proposed a new electronegativity scale and published their findings in Nature Communications.The concept of electronegativity introduced by Linus Pauling, a great American chemist, in the 1930s refers to the ability of an atom to attract electron density. In a chemical bond, the more electronegative atom gains extra electrons, becoming negatively charged, while the less electronegative one loses electrons and becomes positively charged. Electronegativity is a fundamental notion, essential for explaining things that range from chemical bonds’ energy to the (in)stability of chemical compounds and the color and hardness of crystals.Since then, chemists have come up with various definitions and scales of electronegativity.

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