electropositive

(adjective)

Tending to not attract electrons (repel) within a chemical bond.

Related Terms

Examples of electropositive in the following topics:

  • Binary Hydrides

    • In such hydrides, hydrogen is bonded to a more electropositive element or group.
    • Ionic, or saline, hydride is a hydrogen atom bound to an extremely electropositive metal, generally an alkali metal or an alkaline earth metal (for example, potassium hydride or KH).

  • Carbides

    • Carbides are a class of compounds composed of carbon and an electropositive atom.
    • Salt-like (saline) carbides are composed of the highly electropositive atoms, such as the alkali, alkali earth, and group-III metals, mixed with carbon.

  • Naming Molecular Compounds

    • Generally, the more electropositive atom is written first, followed by the more electronegative atom with an appropriate suffix.

  • Periodic Trends in Metallic Properties

    • In effect, the electropositive nature of the metallic atoms allows their valence electrons to exist as a mobile fluid.

  • Electronegativity and Oxidation Number

    • The opposite of electronegativity is electropositivity, which is a measure of an element's ability to donate electrons.
    • However, when hydrogen is bonded with a metal, its oxidation number reduces to -1 because the metal is a more electropositive, or less electronegative, element.

  • Properties of Hydrogen

    • When participating in reactions, hydrogen can have a partial positive charge when reacting with more electronegative elements such as the halogens or oxygen, but it can have a partial negative charge when reacting with more electropositive elements such as the alkali metals.

  • Oxidation Numbers of Metals in Coordination Compounds

    • Solution: The oxidation number of oxygen is assigned a charge of -2 when it reacts with a metal because the metal is more electropositive.

  • Variation of Physical Properties Across a Period

    • A halide is a binary compound, of which one part is a halogen atom and the other part is an element or radical that is less electronegative (or more electropositive) than the halogen, to make a fluoride, chloride, bromide, iodide, or astatide compound.

  • Reactions of Simple Organometallic Compounds

    • The electropositive nature of the metal atom or group is an important factor influencing the reactivity of these reagents.