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Why are 80% of the elements metallic? I get that they ARE, but WHY?
(lemmy.dbzer0.com)
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this post was submitted on 07 May 2024
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Why is it "electronegativity" if they're missing some electrons? Wouldn't that make them electrically positive? I guess it must mean something other than the total electric charge because unless the atom is an ion, that's always 0 (# protons = # electrons)?
Yes, electronegative doesn't mean electrical charge, but simply that it's in the negative of the potential number of electrons in that period. It's a chemical term meant to explain how likely it is to attract the needed electrons, so it increases as it gets closer to the noble elements. I mean, it doesn't express the difference from the ideal number of electrons but the likelyness that it will receive an electron.
The periodic table is a nice overview, but it doesn't really show how stuff works in any logical way.