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📘 Electronegativity is an atom's pull in a bond

Electronegativity ranks how strongly an atom pulls shared electrons in a bond. It is relative, unitless, and always tied to a specific pair of bonded atoms.

2
lessons
~10 min
to learn
Adults
level
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What you’ll learn

  1. Electronegativity and bond dipolesDefine electronegativity and represent bond polarity with partial charges and dipoles.Electronegativity compares pull on shared electrons; delta EN estimates bond polarity direction.
  2. Molecular polarityDistinguish bond polarity from net molecular polarity using geometry and symmetry. Apply a repeatable polarity workflow.Symmetric molecules can cancel polar bonds; bent or pyramidal shapes often leave a net dipole. Finish with a four-step vector checklist for new molecules.

Questions this course answers

What does electronegativity compare?

Electronegativity is the relative pull an atom exerts on shared electrons in a bond.

Which atom is delta minus in a polar bond?

The stronger electron-attracting atom has greater electron density and a partial negative charge.

What does delta EN estimate?

The electronegativity difference is a practical estimate of unequal sharing and bond polarity.

Why is CO2 nonpolar overall?

The identical polar bond vectors point in opposite directions and sum to zero.

Why is water polar overall?

Water's bent geometry leaves a nonzero vector sum of its polar bonds.

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