Chemistry 11

Chapter 12 Chemical Bonding Notes

Types of Bonding
1. Ionic Bonding
Involve the electrostatic attraction between negative
and positive ions
Formed between metal and non-metal
Electrons are transferred from the metal to the
non-metal
Ionic bonds are generally very strong and hence
ionic compounds tend to have high melting points,
eg. NaF = 993 C; KCl = 770 C
An ionic compound in its solid form is generally a
crystal lattice - ions are packed together in an
orderly fashion
The greater the radii of the ions, the weaker the
ionic bond strength
The greater the charge on the ions, the stronger the
ionic bond strength
2. Covalent Bonding
Involve sharing of electrons by two non-metal atoms
Is formed when two atoms having less that full
shells of electrons are able to share one or more
electrons with each other to attain full electron
shells.

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In general, OCTET RULE states that atoms

(particularly in columns 14-17) tend to form covalent
bonds so to have EIGHT electrons in their valence
shells
Covalent bonds are also very strong; compounds
with only covalent bonds have high melting points
eg. BN = ~ 3000 C; C(diamond) = ~ 3550 C
NOT all covalent compounds have high melting
points: eg. CH4 = -182 C;
O2 = -218 C
The more electrons shared in a covalent bond, the
stronger the bond and shorter the bond length
The larger the atoms involved in a covalent bond,
the weaker the bond
Two forms of covalent bonding, depending on
degree of sharing:
a) Equal sharing - also known as NON-POLAR
COVALENT
Eg. H2 molecule each H atom is equally
attracted to each atoms electron (both atoms
have the same electronegativity). The H2 molecule
is described as NON-POLAR

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b)Unequal sharing also known as POLAR

COVALENT
Eg. HCl the Cl atom is more electronegative
than H atom, so Cl will have a greater attraction
for the shared electron than H the electron is
pulled closer toward the Cl nucleus. As a
result, a partial negative pole (slight excess of
negative charge) results for the Cl atom, whilst a
partial positive pole (slight excess of positive
charge) results for the H atom
The HCl molecule is described as POLAR and a
dipole exists in the molecule

3.

Van der Waals Forces

Individual molecules are held together by covalent

bonds between the atoms in the molecule. Such
bonds are STRONG and are called
INTRAMOLECULAR FORCES (intra = within)
In addition to the bonds holding together in to
molecular units, there are WEAK forces which hold
one, complete, neutrally-charged molecule next to
another such molecule. These INTERMOLECULAR
FORCES (inter = between) are called van der
Waals forces
There are several types of van der Waals forces,
depending upon the type of molecules involved:

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a) London dispersion forces