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4: Covalent Compounds

  • Page ID
    393872
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    • 4.1: Covalent Bonds
      A covalent bond is formed between two atoms by sharing electrons.
    • 4.2: Naming Molecular Compounds
      Molecular compounds are inorganic compounds that take the form of discrete molecules. Examples include such familiar substances as water and carbon dioxide. These compounds are very different from ionic compounds like sodium chloride. Ionic compounds are formed when metal atoms lose one or more of their electrons to nonmetal atoms. The resulting cations and anions are electrostatically attracted to each other.
    • 4.3: Representing Valence Electrons with Dots
      The Lewis Structure of a molecule shows how the valence electrons are arranged among the atoms of the molecule. Lewis electron dot diagrams use dots to represent valence electrons around an atomic symbol. Lewis electron dot diagrams for ions have less (for cations) or more (for anions) dots than the corresponding atom. From experimentation, chemists have learned that when a stable compound forms, the atoms usually have a noble gas electron configuration—or eight valence electrons.
    • 4.4: Covalent Lewis Structures- Electrons Shared
      Covalent bonds are formed when atoms share electrons. Lewis electron dot diagrams can be drawn to illustrate covalent bond formation. Double bonds or triple bonds between atoms may be necessary to properly illustrate the bonding in some molecules.
    • 4.5: Writing Lewis Structures for Covalent Compounds
      Lewis dot symbols provide a simple rationalization of why elements form compounds with the observed stoichiometries. A plot of the overall energy of a covalent bond as a function of internuclear distance is identical to a plot of an ionic pair because both result from attractive and repulsive forces between charged entities. In Lewis electron structures, we encounter bonding pairs, which are shared by two atoms, and lone pairs, which are not shared between atoms.
    • 4.6: Resonance - Equivalent Lewis Structures for the Same Molecule
      Resonance structures are averages of different Lewis structure possibilities. Bond lengths are intermediate between covalent bonds and covalent double bonds.
    • 4.7: Predicting the Shapes of Molecules
      The approximate shape of a molecule can be predicted from the number of electron groups and the number of surrounding atoms.
    • 4.8: Electronegativity and Polarity - Why Oil and Water Do not Mix
      Covalent bonds can be nonpolar or polar, depending on the electronegativities of the atoms involved. Covalent bonds can be broken if energy is added to a molecule. The formation of covalent bonds is accompanied by energy given off. Covalent bond energies can be used to estimate the enthalpy changes of chemical reactions.


    4: Covalent Compounds is shared under a not declared license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

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