Periodic table of electronegativity

Interactive periodic table of electronegativity on the Pauling scale. ElementWorks is a free interactive periodic table: hover an element to preview it, click it for its full card, or pick another view from the Show menu.

Periodic table of electronegativity explained

Electronegativity measures how strongly an atom pulls shared bonding electrons toward itself. On the Pauling scale it runs from about 0.79 (cesium and francium) to 3.98 (fluorine). It increases from left to right across a period and decreases down a group, so the most electronegative elements cluster in the upper right, excluding the noble gases. Bond polarity depends on the difference between two atoms' values: a small difference gives a nonpolar covalent bond, a moderate one gives a polar covalent bond, and a large one gives an ionic bond.

Highest values

Fluorine (F): 3.98
Oxygen (O): 3.44
Chlorine (Cl): 3.16
Nitrogen (N): 3.04
Krypton (Kr): 3

Lowest values

Cesium (Cs): 0.79
Francium (Fr): 0.79
Potassium (K): 0.82
Rubidium (Rb): 0.82
Barium (Ba): 0.89

Data table

Show the full data table (all 118 elements)

Electronegativity of all 118 elements
No.	Symbol	Element	Electronegativity
1	H	Hydrogen	2.2
2	He	Helium	—
3	Li	Lithium	0.98
4	Be	Beryllium	1.57
5	B	Boron	2.04
6	C	Carbon	2.55
7	N	Nitrogen	3.04
8	O	Oxygen	3.44
9	F	Fluorine	3.98
10	Ne	Neon	—
11	Na	Sodium	0.93
12	Mg	Magnesium	1.31
13	Al	Aluminium	1.61
14	Si	Silicon	1.9
15	P	Phosphorus	2.19
16	S	Sulfur	2.58
17	Cl	Chlorine	3.16
18	Ar	Argon	—
19	K	Potassium	0.82
20	Ca	Calcium	1
21	Sc	Scandium	1.36
22	Ti	Titanium	1.54
23	V	Vanadium	1.63
24	Cr	Chromium	1.66
25	Mn	Manganese	1.55
26	Fe	Iron	1.83
27	Co	Cobalt	1.88
28	Ni	Nickel	1.91
29	Cu	Copper	1.9
30	Zn	Zinc	1.65
31	Ga	Gallium	1.81
32	Ge	Germanium	2.01
33	As	Arsenic	2.18
34	Se	Selenium	2.55
35	Br	Bromine	2.96
36	Kr	Krypton	3
37	Rb	Rubidium	0.82
38	Sr	Strontium	0.95
39	Y	Yttrium	1.22
40	Zr	Zirconium	1.33
41	Nb	Niobium	1.6
42	Mo	Molybdenum	2.16
43	Tc	Technetium	1.9
44	Ru	Ruthenium	2.2
45	Rh	Rhodium	2.28
46	Pd	Palladium	2.2
47	Ag	Silver	1.93
48	Cd	Cadmium	1.69
49	In	Indium	1.78
50	Sn	Tin	1.96
51	Sb	Antimony	2.05
52	Te	Tellurium	2.1
53	I	Iodine	2.66
54	Xe	Xenon	2.6
55	Cs	Cesium	0.79
56	Ba	Barium	0.89
57	La	Lanthanum	1.1
58	Ce	Cerium	1.12
59	Pr	Praseodymium	1.13
60	Nd	Neodymium	1.14
61	Pm	Promethium	1.13
62	Sm	Samarium	1.17
63	Eu	Europium	1.2
64	Gd	Gadolinium	1.2
65	Tb	Terbium	1.1
66	Dy	Dysprosium	1.22
67	Ho	Holmium	1.23
68	Er	Erbium	1.24
69	Tm	Thulium	1.25
70	Yb	Ytterbium	1.1
71	Lu	Lutetium	1.27
72	Hf	Hafnium	1.3
73	Ta	Tantalum	1.5
74	W	Tungsten	2.36
75	Re	Rhenium	1.9
76	Os	Osmium	2.2
77	Ir	Iridium	2.2
78	Pt	Platinum	2.28
79	Au	Gold	2.54
80	Hg	Mercury	2
81	Tl	Thallium	1.62
82	Pb	Lead	1.87
83	Bi	Bismuth	2.02
84	Po	Polonium	2
85	At	Astatine	2.2
86	Rn	Radon	2.2
87	Fr	Francium	0.79
88	Ra	Radium	0.9
89	Ac	Actinium	1.1
90	Th	Thorium	1.3
91	Pa	Protactinium	1.5
92	U	Uranium	1.38
93	Np	Neptunium	1.36
94	Pu	Plutonium	1.28
95	Am	Americium	1.13
96	Cm	Curium	1.28
97	Bk	Berkelium	1.3
98	Cf	Californium	1.3
99	Es	Einsteinium	1.3
100	Fm	Fermium	1.3
101	Md	Mendelevium	1.3
102	No	Nobelium	1.3
103	Lr	Lawrencium	1.3
104	Rf	Rutherfordium	—
105	Db	Dubnium	—
106	Sg	Seaborgium	—
107	Bh	Bohrium	—
108	Hs	Hassium	—
109	Mt	Meitnerium	—
110	Ds	Darmstadtium	—
111	Rg	Roentgenium	—
112	Cn	Copernicium	—
113	Nh	Nihonium	—
114	Fl	Flerovium	—
115	Mc	Moscovium	—
116	Lv	Livermorium	—
117	Ts	Tennessine	—
118	Og	Oganesson	—

Frequently asked questions

Which element is the most electronegative?

Fluorine, with a Pauling value of 3.98. Oxygen (3.44), nitrogen (3.04) and chlorine (3.16) follow it.

How does electronegativity change across the periodic table?

It increases across a period (left to right) because the nuclear charge grows while the shielding stays similar, and it decreases down a group because the valence electrons sit farther from the nucleus.

Why do noble gases usually have no electronegativity value?

They rarely form bonds, so the Pauling scale does not assign them a value. Heavier noble gases such as xenon do form compounds and have values in some tables.