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Q.Distinguish between electron gain enthalpy and electronegativity.

Jammu Kashmir JkboseJammu and Kashmir Board of School Education (Class 11) 2018Subjective· 3mImportance★★★★★
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Electron gain enthalpy is a measurable energy change for an isolated gaseous atom gaining an electron; electronegativity is a relative, unit-less measure of how strongly a bonded atom pulls shared electrons towards itself.

Electron gain enthalpy

  • Defined as the enthalpy change when one mole of isolated gaseous atoms each accept one electron to form gaseous, mono-negative ions: X(g) + e- -> X-(g).
  • It is an absolute, experimentally measurable quantity, expressed in kJ/mol.
  • Applies to a free (isolated) atom in the gas phase, not to an atom that is part of a molecule.
  • Can be exothermic (energy released, negative value) - typical for most atoms accepting the first electron - or endothermic (energy absorbed, positive value) - as for noble gases, or the second electron addition to an already-negative ion (e.g. O- + e- -> O2-, which requires energy to overcome repulsion).

Electronegativity

  • Defined as the relative tendency of an atom, when present in a covalently bonded molecule, to attract the shared pair of bonding electrons towards itself.
  • It is a relative, dimensionless number (no fixed units) assigned on an arbitrary scale, e.g. the Pauling scale (F = 4.0, the highest). …

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