Answer:
The electronegativity of each successive element down a group decreases.
Step-by-step explanation:
The periodic table of elements is a table of all known chemical elements arranged in order of increasing atomic number. Elements within the same group of the periodic table tend to display similar physical and chemical properties because of their shared number of valence electrons. The periodic table contains observable trends for an element's properties based on their position in the table. Some common periodic trends include electronegativity, atomic radius, and ionization energy.
Electronegativity is a chemical property that measures the ability of an atom to attract electrons. The general trend for electronegativity is that it increases as we go across a period (left to right) and decreases as we go down a group (top to bottom). The reason that the electronegativity of each successive element decreases as we go down Group 16 is because the atomic size is increasing. The atoms have a greater number of energy levels, resulting in an increased distance between the nucleus and valence shell. As electrons get further from the nucleus, they are held less tightly.