Why are the electronegativities of the 5d elements so high?

Explanation:

The electronegativity values of the 5d series are very high because the size of the 5d orbitals are much larger as compared to the size of the 3d and 4d orbitals. As a consequence of this, the shielding capacity of 5d elements are low or these elements are not effective at shielding the nuclear charge . Thus, this causes the increase in the effective nuclear charge which makes the electronegativity values to increase steeply from the Lutetium (1.27) to the Gold (2.54).

step-by-step explanation:

whole numbers, zero or greater

1. they vary with a higher number because boiling is way hotter than melting