Question

Consider four atoms from the second period: lithium, beryllium, boron, carbon, and nitrogen. which of these elements has the lowest electronegativity value?

Answer 1

The element that has the lowest electronegative value is LITHIUM.

Electronegativity refers to the tendency of an element to attract a shared pair of electrons to itself. Non metals generally have high electronegative values while metals have low electronegative values. Looking at the element given above, we will notice that two metals are present there, lithium and beryllium. Lithium has an atomic number of 3 and its electronic configuration is 2,1. This implies that it has only one electron in its outermost shell. Lithium will prefer to donate the electron in its outermost shell to another element than to engage in electron sharing. The electronegative value of lithium is lower than that of beryllium because it has only one electron in its valence shell while beryllium has two.

Answer 2

Electronegativity is the measure  for an atom to acquire an electron to form a bonding pair. Lithium wants to lose its outermost electron and does not want to acquire any more electrons therefore it would have the lowest EN.