Generally speaking, which group would have the lowest electronegativity values in a period?

Group 1

Group 3

Group 14

Group 17

Answer: Group 1 would have the lowest electronegativity values.

Explanation:

Electronegativity is the power of an atom in a molecule to attract electrons. It is also synonymous with the oxidizing ability or non-metallic character of elements.

Generally, across a given period from left to right, electronegativity increases due to increasing nuclear charge and decreasing atomic radius (or atomic size). This is because there is a greater tendency for a smaller atom with higher nuclear attraction to attract electrons than a larger atom with a lower nuclear attraction due to the shielding effect of the nuclear attraction by the inner shell electrons on the outermost electrons in the larger atom.

Also, down a particular group, electronegativity generally decreases due to increasing atomic radius/size.

This is why metals are generally electropositive (lose electrons) and non-metals are electronegative (gain electrons) as they are both found more on the left and right sides of the periodic table respectively.