Covalent bonding

• Covalent Bonding

  Where atoms share electrons with each other so that they've got a full outer shell
• Covalent Bonds-Sharing Electrons

  1. When metal atoms bond together, they share pairs of electrons to make covalent bonds

  2. The positively charged nuclei of the bonded atoms are attracted to the shared pairs of electrons by electrostatic forces, making covalent bonds

  3. Atoms only share electrons in their outer shells (highest energy levels)

  4. Each single covalent bond provides one shared electron for each atom

  5. Each atom involved generally makes enough covalent bonds to fill the outer shell

  6. Having a full outer shell gives them the electronic structure of a noble gas which is very stable
• Covalent bonding happens in compounds of non-metals (e.g. H,O) and in
• Different Ways of Drawing Covalent Bonds

  • You can use dot-and-cross diagrams to show the bonding in covalent compounds
  • Lines drawn in the space between the outer orbits of two atoms represent shared electron pairs
  • Dot and cross diagrams are useful for showing which electrons in a covalent bond come from, but they don't show the relative sizes of the atoms, or how the atoms are arranged in space
  • The 3D model of ammonia shows the atoms, the covalent bonds and the arrangement in space next to each other. But 3D models can quickly become complex for large molecules where there are lots of atoms to include. They don't show where the electrons in the bonds have come from
• Molecular formula of ethane

  • The diagram shows two carbon atoms and six hydrogen atoms, so the molecular formula is CH6
• Sharing is caring