The ability of a covalently bonded atom to attract the shared electrons toward itself is called electronegativity (EN). Electronegativity cannot be measured experimentally. However, various numerical scales to express electronegativity were developed by many scientists. Pauling scale of electronegativity is the one used most widely. Electron gain enthalpy is a quantitative measure of the ease with which an atom adds an electron forming the anion and is expressed in kJ mol-1. Thus, it is an experimentally measurable quantity.
