Bonding and Molecular Structure 

Resources on these topics pages are here to assist you in your mastery of course content. None of the work, etc, on these pages are 'required,' so to speak. It is provided for you to use as fits into your overall approach to studying for this course. 

• General and detailed objectives give you an idea of how you will be assessed over each objective and can serve as a 'study guide' of sorts

• Slides are the raw material from which I build my in-class lectures. Annotated slides will be provided after lectures on the course schedule.

• When available, Reading Guides are provided to assist you in taking and organizing notes as you read the textbook. 

• Any supplemental videos provided are produced by myself other chemistry education professionals.

• Any additional practice provided contains answer keys, so that you may check your work.

Bonding and Molecular Structure Objectives

1. Understand the difference between ionic and covalent bonds 

2. Draw Lewis structures for small molecules and ions 

3. Use formal charge and resonance to distinguish between Lewis structures 

4. Use VSEPR theory to predict the shapes and polarity of molecules 

5. Identify the hybridization of an atom in a molecule 

Objective 1: Understand the difference between ionic and covalent bonds 

• • Read Section 4.1 - Ionic Bonding 

  • Read Section 4.2 - Covalent Bonding

Upon successful completion of this objective you should:

• • Explain the formation of cations, anions, and ionic compounds

  • Predict the charge of common metallic and nonmetallic elements, and write their electron configurations

  • Describe the formation of covalent bonds

  • Define electronegativity and assess the polarity of covalent bonds

Objective 2: Draw Lewis structures for small molecules and ions 

• • Read Section 4.4 - Lewis Symbols and Structures

Upon successful completion of this objective you should be able to

• • Write Lewis symbols for neutral atoms and ions

  • Draw Lewis structures depicting the bonding in simple molecules

Objective 3: Use formal charge and resonance to distinguish between Lewis structures 

• • Read Section 4.5 - Formal Charges and Resonance

Upon successful completion of this objective you should be able to

• • Compute formal charges for atoms in any Lewis structure

  • Use formal charges to identify the most reasonable Lewis structure for a given molecule

  • Explain the concept of resonance and draw Lewis structures representing resonance forms for a given molecule

Objective 4: Use VSEPR theory to predict the shapes and polarity of molecules 

• • Read Section 4.6 - Molecular Shape and Polarity

Upon successful completion of this unit you will be able to:

• • Predict the structures of small molecules using valence shell electron pair repulsion (VSEPR) theory

  • Explain the concepts of polar covalent bonds and molecular polarity

  • Assess the polarity of a molecule based on its bonding and structure

Objective 5: Identify the hybridization of an atom in a molecule 

Tasks:

• • Section 5.2 - Hybrid Atomic Orbitals

Upon successful completion of this objective you should be able to

• • Describe the formation of covalent bonds in terms of atomic orbital overlap

  • Define and give examples of σ and π bonds

  • Explain the concept of atomic orbital hybridization

  • Determine the hybrid orbitals associated with various molecular geometries