COVALENT BONDING

Lesson Objectives:
1. To understand what covalent bonding is.
2. To predict when covalent bonding will occur.
3. To use chemical formulas to build a visual model
of bonding.
 Covalent bonding takes place between non-
metals atoms only.

Atoms attain a full outer shell of electrons -

noble gas structure - by sharing electrons.

Atoms bonded in this way form molecules

Chlorine Cl2
 CHLORINE
Chlorine has atomic number 17

It has 17 protons in its nucleus It also has 17 electrons

2 in the inner shell 8 in the next shell 7 in the outer shell
We need 2 chlorine
atoms
These atoms can then share electrons to complete their outer shells

A chlorine molecule is
formed Also written Cl-Cl or Cl2
Methane CH4
Carbon has atomic number 6 Hydrogen has just one electron
It therefore has 6 electrons And we need 4 hydrogens
2 in the inner shell
4 in the outer shell
Now both carbon and all 4 hydrogens
have complete outer shells
4 covalent bonds have been made

Covalent bonds
can be shown like
this.

Or like this
Oxygen O2
 Oxygen has atomic number 8
Therefore it has 8 electrons
2 in the inner shell
6 in the outer shell

We need a second oxygen

To complete the outer shell,
they each need to share 2
electrons, so a total 4
electrons are shared

The covalent bonds can

be shown like this.

Or like this O=O

Things to notice about covalent
bonding
Carbon (group 4) Double bonds count as
always forms 4 bonds two bonds, and satisfy
Nitrogen (group 5) the need to share two
often makes 3 bonds electrons for BOTH the
Oxygen (group 6) often
atoms eg.
makes double bonds
All of these
arrangements allow the
atoms to have a full
outer shell of 8 (or 2 for
Hydrogen).
 The most stable electronic pattern is what the noble
gases have: a full outer shell
Atoms combine with other atoms to achieve this.

SHELL NUMBER TWO

SHELL NUMBER THREE

 Group 4 needs to share 4 electrons to get to a full
shell of 8 (so makes 4 bonds).
Group 5 needs 3 electrons (makes 3 bonds).
Group 6 needs 2 electrons (makes 2 bonds).
Group 7 only needs 1 electron.
HYDROGEN ONLY NEEDS 1 ELECTRON
(ONE BOND) TO BE LIKE HELIUM
Name Formu Structural Lewis Diagram
la Formula

Methane CH4

Carbon
Dioxide CO2

Water

Ammonia
 Name Formu Structural Dot & Cross Diagram
la Formula

Methane CH4

Carbon
Dioxide CO2

Water H2O

Ammonia NH3

Hydrogen HCN
cyanide
Formaldehy H2CO
de
 Most covalent compounds have small molecules.
They are gases, Liquids or solids with low melting & boiling points.
Chlorine Cl2 Iodine I2

Carbon Dioxide CO2 Water H2O

Covalent bonds can also link atoms in large networks called Giant Structures.
These have very high melting points and are often very hard.

Diamond A form of Carbon Silicon Dioxide (SiO2) Found

in sand and quartz

Graphite Another form of Carbon