The most electronegative alkaline earth metal is

Options

A. Be
B. Mg
C. Ca
D. Ba

Answer

To determine the most electronegative alkaline earth metal, we can follow these steps:

### Step 1: Identify the Alkaline Earth Metals
The alkaline earth metals are found in Group 2 of the periodic table. The elements in this group include:
- Beryllium (Be)
- Magnesium (Mg)
- Calcium (Ca)
- Strontium (Sr)
- Barium (Ba)

### Step 2: Understand Electronegativity
Electronegativity is defined as the tendency of an atom to attract shared pairs of electrons when forming chemical bonds. It is a measure of how strongly an atom can attract electrons in a bond.

### Step 3: Analyze the Trend in Electronegativity
In the periodic table, electronegativity generally decreases as you move down a group. This is due to:
- An increase in atomic size (atomic radius) as you move down the group.
- The increase in the number of electron shells, which causes the outermost electrons to be further away from the nucleus, reducing the nucleus's ability to attract shared electrons.

### Step 4: Compare the Electronegativity of Alkaline Earth Metals
Given the trend that electronegativity decreases down the group, we can conclude:
- Beryllium (Be) is at the top of the group and has the smallest atomic size and the highest electronegativity.
- As we move down to Magnesium (Mg), Calcium (Ca), Strontium (Sr), and Barium (Ba), the electronegativity decreases.

### Step 5: Conclusion
From the analysis, we can conclude that Beryllium (Be) is the most electronegative alkaline earth metal.

### Final Answer
The most electronegative alkaline earth metal is **Beryllium (Be)**.

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