Which statement about electronegativity is accurate, including noble gases?

Which statement about electronegativity is accurate, including noble gases?

• A. Left side and down
• B. Right side and up
• C. Noble gases have the highest electronegativity
• D. Right side and up, with noble gases having zero electronegativity

Answer: (D)

Electronegativity generally increases as you move to the right across a period and up a group, because atoms gain more protons with the same energy level and hold bonding electrons more tightly. Noble gases, however, have complete valence shells and rarely form bonds, so there isn’t a meaningful tendency to attract electrons in typical bonding situations. In practice, their electronegativity is considered zero or undefined, since they don’t pull electron density toward themselves in covalent bonds. So the best statement combines the familiar rightward/upward trend with the special case for noble gases, reflecting that they have zero electronegativity.

Electronegativity generally increases as you move to the right across a period and up a group, because atoms gain more protons with the same energy level and hold bonding electrons more tightly. Noble gases, however, have complete valence shells and rarely form bonds, so there isn’t a meaningful tendency to attract electrons in typical bonding situations. In practice, their electronegativity is considered zero or undefined, since they don’t pull electron density toward themselves in covalent bonds. So the best statement combines the familiar rightward/upward trend with the special case for noble gases, reflecting that they have zero electronegativity.