The source of an atom's electronegativity is the ________.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Electronegativity is defined as the ability of an atom to attract electrons towards itself when it forms a chemical bond with another atom. The source of electronegativity is the effective nuclear charge, which is the net positive charge that an electron experiences due to the attractive force of the nucleus minus any repulsive forces from other electrons in the atom. The higher the effective nuclear charge an atom has, the stronger its electronegativity will be, as it can more strongly attract electrons towards itself in a chemical bond.

The Source of an Atom's Electronegativity Is the ________