Pauling Scale

Trying for an intuitive grasp of some notions in Biochemistry, I have recently
stumbled upon the Pauling Electronegativity scale, a truly remarkable construct.
Today, Chemistry and Physics work with different definitions of ionization energy.
From Wikipedia:

The Pauling Scale works with electron-volt measures, and accounts for the
strength of bonds between atoms. The quantum character of interactions means
one must ultimately make assumptions to produce these numbers, but it is good
enough to allow chemists to predict properties without going to physics in all cases.

Here is the equation, for two species A and B forming a covalent bond:

http://scarc.library.oregonstate.edu/coll/pauling/bond/narrative/page1.html


                                                                    *   *   *

If one wants to know why glucose - the body's blood sugar - tends to be found
in ring form rather than as a chain, one can consult Pauling's  values for
Hydrogen(2.20), Carbon (2.55), and Oxygen(3.44).

source:http://chemistry.elmhurst.edu/vchembook/543glucose.html

The Oxygen on the C5 alcohol finds the C at C1 attractive and drops its Hydrogen.

The Oxygen on 1 gives up its double bond for an H. Sad but largely inevitable...

Noteworthy that glucose has an alpha and beta ring configuration, depending on the
order of the H and OH on C1. The Alpha is the monomer for starch, the Beta for
cellulose.