The electronegativity of an atom is determined by its atomic number as well as the distance between its valence electrons and the charged nucleus. The higher the associated electronegativity, the more electrons are attracted to an atom or a substituent group.
The electronegativity of carbon is 2.55, while the electronegativity of nitrogen is 3.04.
When forming a chemical bond, the tendency of an atom of a certain chemical element to attract shared electrons is known as electronegativity.