05/08/2018 Chemical Bonds

CHEMICAL BONDS

Although there are only 112 known elements, there are millions of chemical substances found in nature or
made artificially. These substances are not simply mixtures of two or more elements, but chemical
compounds, formed by combining
two or more elements together in a chemical reaction. The chemical ‘glue’ that holds compounds together
is called chemical bonding. Chemical bonding also holds together atoms in the molecules of an element.
There are two main types of chemical bond: covalent and ionic. Both work by bringing two atoms together
in such a way as to make them appear stable. This is achieved by interaction in the atoms’ outermost shell
of electrons (valence shell). By either sharing or donating electrons, both atoms can fill up their valence
shell with electrons and achieve a stability similar to the noble gases.

Covalent 
Covalent bonding occurs when two atoms share electrons in their outer shell. Fluorine atoms, for example,
each have seven outer electrons, but to gain a stability they need eight outer electrons. Thus two fluorine
atoms can share an electron each, forming a covalent bond.

Electrovalent 
Ionic bonding (or electrovalent bonding) occurs when one atom ‘donates’ an electron to another atom. For
example, sodium (Na) has one electron in its outer shell, whilst fluorine has seven. If the sodium atom
transfers an electron to fluorine, both atoms attain a stability in their outer shell. When this transfer
happens, both atoms become ions.

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