WORKSHEET: Chemical Bonding

The concept of electron configurations allowed chemists to explain why chemical molecules are formed from elements. In 1916, the
American chemist Gilbert Lewis proposed that atoms can achieve a noble gas electronic configuration by gaining, losing or sharing
electrons with other atoms. Since noble gases (except He) have 8 valence electrons, his proposal is known as the octet rule.

Octet Rule states that, except for hydrogen, an atom combines with other atoms to form bonds in order to have 8 electrons in its
valence shell (outermost shell). Hydrogen shares electrons with other atoms to achieve the He electronic configuration.

Lewis dot symbols are representations of the elements which give a dot (•) for each valence electron on the atom.

The Lewis dot symbols for the period 2 elements are:

Hund's rule is followed and that the electrons are left unpaired if possible. Transition metals (and the lanthanides and actinides) can't
be represented by simple Lewis Dot Symbols.

Apply:
A. Fill in the Lewis dot symbols for:

Ga P Br Ca Si

Lewis dot structures allow us to understand two types of bonding: ionic and covalent.

Model 1: Ionic Bonding

The compounds formed by metals and non-metals contain ionic bonds.

Metal atoms lose electrons to form cations. Non-metal atoms gain
electrons to form anions. The interactions between cations and anions are
ionic and are often called ionic bonds. Simply, it is the coming together of
opposite charges in a strict ration based on electrostatic attraction.

Ionic compounds form crystal lattices which contain an infinite network of

ionic bonds.

Cations lose electrons so that they have an empty outer shell: Group 1
metals lose 1 electron, Group 2 metals lose 2 electrons, and Group 13 metals lose 3 electrons.

Anions gain electrons so that they have a ful outer shell: Group 17 non-metals gain 1 electron, Group 16 non-metals gain 2 electrons,
and Group 15 non-metal gain 3 electrons. Gain or loss of more than 3 electrons requires considerable energy and rarely occurs. This
limits the combinations of elements that can form ionic compounds. No chemical bonds are formed between the anions and cations.

Apply

B. Use Lewis dot symbols to show the transfer of electrons between the following atoms to form cations and anions:

1. K and S 2. O and Ba

C. Write the chemical formula for the following compounds:

1. K and S 2. O and Ba
Some ions contain groups of atoms. These are called polyatomic ions. The groups of atoms in a polyatomic ion tend to stay together
in reactions. Some of the most common are listed on the right.

Polyatomic ions can form compounds with each other and with atomic ions. Examples:
1. calcium nitrate - Ca(NO3)2
2. calcum sulfate - CaSO4
3. ammonium chloride - NH4Cl

D. Write down the formula of the following ionic compounds. (Hint: Put the cation first, to
balance the charges and to use brackets if required around the polyatomic ion).
1. sodium hydroxide
2. calcium chloride
3. sodium sulfide
4. lead (IV) oxide
5. potassium permanganate

Model 2: Covalent Bonding

The interaction between two non-metals is covalent. Two
(or more) non-metals form covalent bonds. In a covalent
bond, two atoms share their electrons in order for each to
gain a noble gas configuration. For most of the atoms this
means, they have 8 electrons in their valence shell - octet
rule.

For some elements in period 3 and belwow, such as S and P,

this rule can be broken.

Apply
E. Complete the Lewis dot symbols for the fluorine atoms below:

F F

1. Determine the number of valence electrons available in the F2 molecule:

Total valence electrons = ____

2. Determine the number of unused valence electrons = ____
3. Place the remaining electrons as pairs of electrons around the F2 structure

F:F

4. Does each of the F atoms have an octet of electrons?

The shared electrons form the chemical bond between the F atoms. The other 3 pairs of electrons on each of the F atoms are called
lone pair electrons and are not involved in bonding.