Electronegativity is a major determining factor in how atoms bond. Remember the short definition is an atom's ability to "possess electrons in a bond". Atoms with high electronegativity tend to gain electrons or possess them more of the time when they are shared. Atoms with lower electronegativity tend to donate electrons to other atoms more of the time. Use the periodic table model below and rank the selected elements from lowest electronegativity to highest electronegativity.

Question

Iridium, Scandium, Barium, Nitrogen, and Iodine.

Answer 1

To rank the elements Iridium (Ir), Scandium (Sc), Barium (Ba), Nitrogen (N), and Iodine (I) from lowest to highest electronegativity based on periodic trends, we can use the general rules that electronegativity increases across a period (left to right) and decreases down a group (top to bottom) on the periodic table.

1. Barium (Ba) - This is an alkaline earth metal located in Group 2 and has the lowest electronegativity among the listed elements.
2. Scandium (Sc) - This is a transition metal found in Group 3. It has a higher electronegativity than barium but is still relatively low compared to nonmetals.
3. Iridium (Ir) - Another transition metal, Iridium is in Group 9. It has a higher electronegativity than both barium and scandium.
4. Iodine (I) - A halogen in Group 17, Iodine has a much higher electronegativity than transition metals as it tends to gain electrons in chemical bonding.
5. Nitrogen (N) - A nonmetal in Group 15, nitrogen has the highest electronegativity among the selected elements.

Based on this analysis, the order from lowest electronegativity to highest electronegativity is:

Barium (Ba) < Scandium (Sc) < Iridium (Ir) < Iodine (I) < Nitrogen (N).