Covalent Bonding

Related Essays

  • Biology Study Guide Almost everything around us can be broken down into simpler substances. These substances can be further broken down into other simpler substances. There is a...
  • Intermolecular Bonding Essay Intermolecular Bonding Essay Write an essay on intermolecular bonding. Explain how each type of bond arises and the evidence for the existence of each. Comment...
  • Ft.Lauderdale High Ap Bio Project Cells Are the basic unit of structure and function in living things.May serve a specific function within the organism Examples- blood cells, nerve cells, bone...
  • Mr. John Newlands - idea of repeating octaves of properties Dimitry Mendeleyev - arranged known elements according to atomic weights and properties. Made predictions...
  • Atom Atom From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search Semi-protected For other uses, see Atom (disambiguation). Helium atom Helium atom ground...

Covalent Bonding

Covalent bonding is a form of chemical bonding characterized by the sharing of   one or more pairs of electrons, by two atoms, in order to produce a mutual   attraction. The atoms tend to share electrons, so as to fill their outer   electron shells. Such bonds are always stronger than the intermolecular hydrogen   bond and similar in strength or stronger than the ionic bond. Commonly a   covalent bond implies the sharing of just a single pair of electrons. The   sharing of two pairs of electrons is called a double bond and three pairs are   called a triple bond. The triple bond is relatively rare in nature, and two   atoms are not observed to bond more than triply. A covalent bond is typically   formed by two non-metals.   Non-metals have similar electronegativities.   Consequently, neither atom is strong enough to steal electrons from the other.   Therefore, the atoms must share the electrons.   In short, a covalent bond exists   when two or more electrons (in pairs) are shared by two non-metallic atoms.   Each atom donates half of the electrons to be shared. This sharing of electrons   is a result of the electronegativity (electron attracting ability) of the two   bonded atoms which is either equal to or no greater than 1.7. If the   electronegativity difference is greater than 1.7 then the higher electronegative   atom has an electron attracting ability large enough to force the transfer of   electrons from the less electronegative atom. This would be an ionic bond. As   long as the electronegativity difference is no greater than 1.7 the atoms can   only share the bonding electrons. Two atoms with the same electronegativity will   share the bonding electron pairs equally. As a result the bonding electrons will   be evenly distributed between the bonded atoms. There will be no accumulation of   bonding electrons on any one atom.   Covalent bonding also most frequently occurs   between atoms with similar electronegativities because neither atom can provide   sufficient energy to completely...

View Full Essay

  • Submitted by: blaine
  • Date Submitted: 05/24/2008 04:29 PM
  • Category: Science
  • Words: 534
  • Pages: 3
  • Views: 553
  • Popularity Rank: 3772

View Full Essay

Want More?

Thousands of students trust PeerPapers.com for help with their writing. Shouldn't you?

Join Now