Question

when forming chemical bonds, metal atoms tend to lose electrons, while nonmetal atoms tend to gain or share electrons. these observations are explained by the electronegativities of metals and nonmetals.
electronegativity (en) is a measure of the ability of an atom to attract electrons towards itself in a chemical bond. elements with higher electronegativities pull electrons toward themselves more strongly than elements with lower electronegativities.
this table shows the electronegativities of three nonmetals and three metals.

element	character	electronegativity
o	nonmetal	3.44
s	nonmetal	2.58
mg	metal	1.31
na	metal	0.93
fr	metal	0.7

based on the table, which of the following statements are true? select all that apply.
nonmetal atoms attract electrons less strongly than metal atoms.
nonmetal atoms tend to have higher electronegativities than metal atoms.
in a bond between sulfur and fluorine, electrons are more strongly attracted to the sulfur atom.
when forming a chemical bond, atoms with low electronegativities tend to lose electrons.

Explanation:

1. Analyze the electronegativity values in the table. Non - metals (F: 3.98, O: 3.44, S: 2.58) have higher electronegativities than metals (Mg: 1.31, Na: 0.93, Fr: 0.7), so non - metal atoms attract electrons more strongly than metal atoms, making the first statement false.
2. Based on the table, non - metal atoms indeed have higher electronegativities than metal atoms, so the second statement is true.
3. Fluorine (EN = 3.98) has a higher electronegativity than sulfur (EN = 2.58), so in a bond between sulfur and fluorine, electrons are more strongly attracted to the fluorine atom, making the third statement false.
4. Atoms with low electronegativities, like metals in the table, tend to lose electrons when forming chemical bonds, so the fourth statement is true.

Answer:

Nonmetal atoms tend to have higher electronegativities than metal atoms.
When forming a chemical bond, atoms with low electronegativities tend to lose electrons.