2/16/11
Post date: Feb 15, 2011 9:2:57 PM
No bell ringer. Questions before quiz?
Quiz 6 - naming and writing formulas for ionic compounds
Covalent bonding
Covalent compounds bond by sharing electrons, rather than transferring
After electrons are shared, the atoms need to remain close to continue to share
Atoms still want to have a full outer shell of electrons
Occurs when atoms have nearly a complete outer electron level and similar atoms are near
Example: Chlorine has 7 valence electrons. If two Cl atoms come together and each share an electron, then each atom has access to 8 valence electrons! Hazzah!
This is where the structural formula method of showing compounds is handy!
We show the chemical symbol of an element and represent the valence electrons with dots. Chlorine is in the 7th column, so it has 7 valence electrons.
In order to fill up the outer level of electrons, Chlorine must share one of it's electrons with another Chlorine
The two chlorine atoms move close enough to share their 7th electrons
These shared electrons bond the two chlorine atoms together. We usually represent a bond (or a shared pair of electrons) with a straight line between the two atoms
Atoms can share more than one electron with other atoms. This happens when the atoms has only 5 or 6 valence electrons
Oxygen has 6 valence electrons
When two oxygen atoms come together, they each share 2 of their electrons to fill their outer electrons shells.
Again, we show each shared pair of electrons as a straight line
This type of bond, which has two lines between atoms (or 2 pairs of shared electrons) is called a double bond.
When two nitrogen atoms come together, they form a triple bond (they each share 3 electrons with the other) because nitrogen has 5 valence electrons
The more bonds there are between two atoms, the harder it is to break them apart (e.g. the bond between two nitrogen atoms is stronger than that between two oxygen atoms)
Atoms don't always share equally
When two different elements bond together, sometimes the electrons are more attracted to one nucleus than the other. This is called a polar covalent bond. (when electrons are equally attracted to each nucleus, we call it a nonpolar covalent bond)
Electrons are typically more attracted to elements that are farther to the right and higher up on the periodic table of elements.
Covalent Bonds Homework due 1/17/11