What is the effect of increasing the electronegativity of an atom bonded to hydrogen?
Practice Questions
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Q1
What is the effect of increasing the electronegativity of an atom bonded to hydrogen?
Decreases bond strength
Increases bond strength
Decreases acidity
Increases acidity
Increasing the electronegativity of an atom bonded to hydrogen increases the acidity of the compound.
Questions & Step-by-step Solutions
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Q
Q: What is the effect of increasing the electronegativity of an atom bonded to hydrogen?
Solution: Increasing the electronegativity of an atom bonded to hydrogen increases the acidity of the compound.
Steps: 5
Step 1: Understand electronegativity. Electronegativity is a measure of how strongly an atom attracts electrons in a bond.
Step 2: Identify the atom bonded to hydrogen. This could be any atom, like oxygen, nitrogen, or chlorine.
Step 3: Recognize that when the electronegativity of the atom increases, it pulls the shared electrons in the bond closer to itself.
Step 4: Realize that this creates a stronger bond between the atom and hydrogen, making the hydrogen atom more positive (or more acidic).
Step 5: Conclude that as the electronegativity increases, the ability of the compound to donate a proton (H+) increases, which means it becomes more acidic.
