Question

i need the electronegativity of acetic acid can't seem to work it out

Answer 1

You only apply electronegativity to elements, not compounds.

Answer 2

I suggest you read up on the definition of what electronegativity is.

Answer 3

ok cz i need to graph PKa values against electronegativity with acetic acid, fluoroacetic acid, chloroacetic acid, bromoacetic acid and iodoacetic acid. for the others i used the element in the start of the name so do you think i should place acetic acid at 0??

Answer 4

Are you sure it's not electronegativity vs. atomic number of each element in acetic acid. The chemical formula for acetic acid is not very complex. CH3COOH

Answer 5

Do you understand the effects of each halogen on the pKa of each organic species you listed there? You might want to do that.

Answer 6

no Pka Vs e-neg. iv had to graph the halogens Pka vs No present eg chloro, dichloro, trichloro but i just can't get my head around this last 1. its all to try n predict the Pka of tribromo later on

Answer 7

Yes, I am guessing it is asking you to graph pK\(\sf _a\) of acetic acid vs. electronegativity of that halogen, because electronegativity is applied to elements.

You should notice the trend of the pKa increase as you go down the halogens list. This is due to the larger nature of the halogens are you move down.
As you know, you increase acidity of an organic compound as you move rightward and vice versa when you move to the left.

Answer 8

cheers :)