Define electronegativity. How does it differ from electron gain enthalpy?
Electronegativity of an element is the tendency of its atom to attract the shared pair of electrons towards itself in a covalent bond. Electron gam enthalpy of an element may be defined as the energy released when a neutral isolated gaseous atom accepts an extra electron to form the gaseous negative ion, i. e., anion.
Greater the amount of energy released in the above process, higher is the electron gain enthalpy of the element. Electronegativity differs from electron gain enthalpy because electronegativity is a property of an atom in the bonded state while electron gain enthalpy relates to atoms in their isolated gaseous states.