Chemistry · Ch 7 — The p-Block Elements
Electronegativity
7.10.6
Electronegativity
Oxygen has the second-highest electronegativity of any element, exceeded only by fluorine. Moving down Group 16, electronegativity decreases steadily with increasing atomic number, from oxygen through to polonium. This falling electronegativity is the flip side of a rising metallic character across the same span — the elements become progressively less non-metallic and more metal-like as the gr …