Covalent Bonding

• Why does graphite conduct electricity?

  • graphite has delocalised electrons which are able to move and carry charge around the structure
• why is diamond hard but graphite is soft?

  diamond has 4 carbon atoms covalently bonded to each other, graphite is soft because it has layers that slide over each other
• why is C60 fullerene suitable to deliver medicines?

  It doesn’t react with blood.
• why do simple molecular covalent structures have weak melting points

  • weak intermolecular forces
  • little energy needed to overcome forces
• Forces of attraction in a covalent bond:

  Electrostatic forces between shared pairs of electrons and 2 nuclei