HOMEWORK WITH CHEMISTRY

Question

For the elements with the electron affinities given in the table in the introduction, which element is most likely to accept an electron?
S
Be
P

Answer 1

Hi! This question deals with the idea of electronegativity values. These values tell you how likely an element is to accept an electron when bonding with something else. If we look at the electronegativity values for these three elements (these should be given to you) we see that beryllium is ~1.57, sulfur is ~2.58, and phosphorus is ~2.19. The element with the greatest electronegativity value is the one that is most likely to accept electrons, so in this case it's sulfur! We can also see this by looking at the periodic table, whichever element is closest to fluorine is the most elecronegative. Sulfur, using this test, would win again!