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12: The Chemical Bond

  • Page ID
    120566
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    Chemical bond refers to the forces holding atoms together to form molecules and solids. This force is of an electric nature, and the attraction between electrons of one atom to the nucleus of another atom contributes to what is known as chemical bonds. A chemical bond is a lasting attraction between atoms that enables the formation of chemical compounds and may result from the electrostatic force of attraction between atoms with opposite charges, or through the sharing of electrons as in the covalent bonds. The strength of chemical bonds varies considerably.

    • 12.1: Lewis Structures
      hemical bond refers to the forces holding atoms together to form molecules and solids. This force is of an electric nature, and the attraction between electrons of one atom to the nucleus of another atom contributes to what is known as chemical bonds. Various theories regarding chemical bonds have been proposed over the past 300 years, during which our interpretation of the world has also changed.
    • 12.2: Valence Bond Theory
      Valence bond theory describes bonding as a consequence of the overlap of two separate atomic orbitals on different atoms that creates a region with one pair of electrons shared between the two atoms. When the orbitals overlap along an axis containing the nuclei, they form a σ bond. When they overlap in a fashion that creates a node along this axis, they form a π bond.
    • 12.3: Hybridization of Atomic Orbitals
    • 12.4: Electronegativity and Dipole Moment
    • 12.5: Molecular Orbital Theory
      The positions and energies of electrons in molecules can be described in terms of molecular orbitals. A particular spatial distribution of electrons in a molecule that is associated with a particular orbital energy.—a spatial distribution of electrons in a molecule that is associated with a particular orbital energy. As the name suggests, molecular orbitals are not localized on a single atom but extend over the entire molecule. Hence, the molecular orbital approach is a delocalized approach.
    • 12.6: Diatomic Molecules
    • 12.7: Resonance and Electron Delocalization
      Resonance is a mental exercise and method within the Valence Bond Theory of bonding that describes the delocalization of electrons within molecules. It compares and contrasts two or more possible Lewis structures that can represent a particular molecule. Resonance structures are used when one Lewis structure for a single molecule cannot fully describe the bonding that takes place between neighboring atoms relative to the empirical data for the actual bond lengths between those atoms.
    • 12.8: Coordination Compounds
    • 12.9: Coordination Compounds in Biological Systems
    • 12.10: The Chemical Bond (Exercises)
      This are exercises that to accompany the TextMap organized around Raymond Chang's Physical Chemistry for the Biosciences textbook.


    12: The Chemical Bond is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

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