Electronegativity

Electronegativity is a measure of an atom's ability to attract electrons towards itself in a chemical bond. It is an important concept in chemistry as it helps predict the nature of chemical bonding and the distribution of electron density in molecules.

Comparing Electronegativity

To determine which element is most electronegative among Arsenic, Nitrogen, and Phosphorus, we can refer to the periodic table. Electronegativity generally increases from left to right across a period and decreases from top to bottom within a group.

Nitrogen
- Nitrogen is located in group 15 of the periodic table.
- It has an atomic number of 7 and an electron configuration of 1s2 2s2 2p3.
- Nitrogen is relatively small in size and has a high effective nuclear charge.
- As a result, it has a relatively high electronegativity compared to other elements in its group.

Phosphorus
- Phosphorus is also located in group 15 of the periodic table.
- It has an atomic number of 15 and an electron configuration of 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p3.
- Phosphorus is larger in size compared to nitrogen and has a lower effective nuclear charge.
- Consequently, it has a lower electronegativity compared to nitrogen.

Arsenic
- Arsenic is located in group 15 of the periodic table, just below phosphorus.
- It has an atomic number of 33 and an electron configuration of 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 4s2 3d10 4p3.
- Arsenic is larger in size than both nitrogen and phosphorus and has a lower effective nuclear charge.
- Therefore, it has the lowest electronegativity among the three elements.

Conclusion

Based on the periodic trends and the positions of nitrogen, phosphorus, and arsenic in the periodic table, we can conclude that nitrogen has the highest electronegativity among these elements. Nitrogen's small size and high effective nuclear charge contribute to its ability to attract electrons towards itself in a chemical bond.