Electronegativity Chart
Pauling electronegativity for every element that has one. Darker tiles pull bonding electrons harder.
Swipe sideways to see the whole table →
Bond polarity check
Pick two elements to see the electronegativity difference and the bond type it predicts.
Why the trend runs that way
Across a period, each step adds a proton to the nucleus but the new electron joins the same shell, so the pull on bonding electrons grows. Down a group, a whole new shell sits between the nucleus and the bond, so the pull weakens. The top-right corner (F, O, N, Cl) is where electronegativity peaks. The periodic trends explainer lets you watch this happen.
Electronegativity values, sorted
Questions students ask
What is electronegativity?
How strongly an atom pulls shared electrons towards itself in a chemical bond. Linus Pauling defined the most widely used scale in 1932; fluorine is highest at 3.98 and caesium and francium are lowest at about 0.7–0.8.
What is the electronegativity trend on the periodic table?
It increases across a period from left to right, because nuclear charge rises while electrons are added to the same shell. It decreases down a group, because the bonding electrons are further from the nucleus and more shielded. Noble gases are usually left without a value.
How do you use electronegativity to predict bond type?
Subtract the two values. A difference below about 0.4 gives a nonpolar covalent bond, 0.4 to about 1.7 a polar covalent bond, and above about 1.7 a mostly ionic bond. These cut-offs are rules of thumb, not sharp boundaries.
Which element is the most electronegative?
Fluorine (3.98), followed by oxygen (3.44), chlorine (3.16) and nitrogen (3.04).