Chemical Bonding

Noble gas configuration

*Helium (He), neon (Ne) and argon (Ar) are some examples of the
noble gases. They are found in Group 0 of the Periodic Table.
*Noble gases exist as individual and discrete (separate)
atoms.
*Atoms with full shells of electrons are stable. Therefore, an atom
is stable if it has a duplet (2 electrons) or an octet (8
electrons) configuration. This is known as the noble gas
configuration.

*Atoms of all noble gases have full shells of electrons. Hence

they are stable and unreactive. For example, helium, He
has 2 electrons in its (only) shell. Since the first shell can hold
a maximum of 2 electrons only, helium has a stable
electronic configuration.

Chemical bonding
*For atoms of other elements, the outermost shell is incomplete
(not fully occupied) and known as the valence (outermost)
shell.
*Electrons in the valence shell are called the valence electrons.

*Hence, these elements react in order to achieve the noble gas

configurations. This is made possible by any one of the three
ways given below.

(i) Losing valence electrons (losing electrons from their valence

shell)
(ii) Gaining valence electrons
(iii) Sharing valence electrons

The process of (i) and (ii) by which atoms (which form

ions) bond together to form stable compounds is known as
ionic bonding.

The process of (iii) is known as covalent bonding.

We may understand the concept of ionic bonding by
looking at this analogy:

An 18 year old boy (analogous to the metal atom) and a 18 year

old girl (analogous to the non-metal atom) are dating. The boy
gives one dollar (analogous to one electron) out of his outermost
part of his pocket from his jeans to the girl. The girl accepts the
one dollar (one electron) and they are both very happy. They hold
hands and form a stable relationship (analogous to forming a
strong relationship or ionic bond).

We may understand the concept of covalent bonding by

looking at this analogy:

2 girls (2 non-metal atoms) want to buy Magnolia ice-cream, one costing 2

dollars. Each girl has 1 dollar (1 electron). They pool their 1 dollar together, so
with the total of 2 dollars, they buy the Magnolia ice-cream and they Share the
ice-cream. The 2 girls bond together (2 non-metal atoms bond covalently to
form a strong covalent bond) strongly over the ice-cream.

Ionic bonding
*Atoms are electrically neutral since numbers of protons and
electrons are equal. Neutrons have 0 charge.
* When atoms lose or gain electrons from their valence shells,
ions are formed.
*The ion carries a positive or a negative charge because the
numbers of protons and electrons are not equal.

*Hence an ion is a charged particle formed by the loss or gain

of electrons from an atom [or a group of atoms which you
will see later].
*Atoms of metals lose electrons from the outermost shell to
 achieve the noble gas structure (duplet or octet structure
which you learned earlier). They form positively charged ions
called cations. (Remember, there is a t in the word cation,
and the letter t looks like a positive sign).

*For example, sodium atom has an electronic configuration of 2.

8. 1. It loses one electron from its valence shell to obtain a
stable noble gas structure of 2, 8. The resultant sodium ion is
(singly) positively charged (+1 charge).

Na Na+ + e (e stands for electron)

*Atoms of non-metals tend to gain electrons to fill up the

outermost shell and achieve noble gas configuration. They
form negatively charged ions called anions (because there
are more electrons than protons in the anions).
*For example, chlorine atom has a proton number of 17 and its
electronic structure is 2. 8. 7. It achieves the electronic
configuration of a noble gas by gaining one electron and
forms a negatively charged chloride ion.

*Cl + e Cl-
*An ionic bond is formed when metal atom(s) react with non
metal atom(s).
*For example, sodium combines with chlorine to form sodium
chloride, which is an ionic compound. Sodium chloride is
made up of positively charged sodium ions (Na+ ions) and the
negatively charged chloride ions (Cl-), held together by
electrostatic forces (something similar to strong electrical
forces) of attraction.

*An ionic compound is represented by dot and cross diagrams

where dots represent the electrons of one atom and crosses
represent the electrons of another atom.
*In an ionic compound, the number of positive charges must be
equal to the number of negative charges.
*For example, in magnesium chloride, magnesium ion
 (Mg2+)has two positive charges. Chloride ion (Cl-) has only one
negative charge. Therefore, two chloride ions are needed to
balance the two positive charges on the magnesium ion. The
chemical formula for magnesium chloride MgCl2

Physical properties of ionic compounds

*Ionic compounds form giant ionic structures. Ions with opposite
charges are strongly attracted to each other and are arranged
in a giant lattice structure in an regular and orderly
manner.
*Forces of attraction between the ions of opposite charges are
very strong and a large amount of heat energy is needed to
break them up. So most ionic compounds are non-volatile
(cannot vaporize into gas easily) and generally have high
melting and boiling points.

*Ionic compounds are generally soluble in water and insoluble

in organic solvents like ethanol. However, some ionic
compounds are insoluble in water. You will cover this in Acids,
Bases and Salts chapter.
*Mobile ions in the ionic compounds conduct electricity. ln
the solid state, the ions are not free to move and they do not
conduct electricity. When an ionic compound is melted or
dissolved in water, it can conduct electricity since the ions are
free to move.

Next, we proceed to another type of bonding covalent bonding.

Covalent bonding
*Atoms of non-metals (remember the 2 girls sharing the Magnolia
ice-cream?) can bond with each other by sharing their valence
electrons to achieve a noble gas configuration. When atoms
share their valence electrons, the resulting bond(s) is/are
known as covalent bond.
*A molecule is a group of two or more atoms held strongly
together by covalent bonds. For example by sharing electrons,
two hydrogen atoms (2 H atoms) combine to form a hydrogen
molecule (one H2 molecule).
*The covalent bond between two atoms can be represented by a
dot and cross diagram.
*Usually, only the outermost shell is shown in the dot and cross
diagrams.

Covalent bonds in molecules of ELEMENTS

Single covalent bond or single bond

*Each hydrogen atom shares one electron with another hydrogen
atom to form a hydrogen molecule, H2, and attain the noble
gas configuration of helium (He).
*When each atom shares one electron to form a bond, the
resulting bond is a single bond. So, a single bond is made
up of one shared pair of electrons (ie. 1 pair of
electrons consists of 2 electrons).

*The single bond is represented by the symbol .

*For example, the hydrogen molecule is indicated by its
structural formula, HH.

*Molecules of elements are made up of identical atoms.

*Many gaseous elements exist as diatomic molecules. For
example, oxygen exists as O2 an nitrogen as N2.

Double covalent bond or double bond (formation of oxygen

molecule)
*An oxygen atom has only six valence electrons and needs two
more electrons to complete outermost shell. So each oxygen
atom shares two electrons with another oxygen atom to
achieve the noble gas configuration of neon (Ne).

*When each atom shares two electrons to form a bond, the

resultant bond is known as a double bond. Hence, a double
bond consists of two shared pairs of electrons.
*The double bond is represented by the symbol =.
*For example, oxygen molecule is indicated by its structural
formula, O = O.

Covalent bonds in molecules of COMPOUNDS

*Covalent compounds have molecules made up of two or more
different types of atoms held together by strong covalent
bonding. Some examples are water (H2O) , carbon dioxide
(CO2) and methane (CH4).
*A water molecule contains two hydrogen atoms and one central
oxygen atom linked by covalent bonds. The oxygen atom
shares its electrons with two hydrogen atoms so that all the
three atoms have noble gas configurations. There are two
single covalent bonds in each water molecule.

Physical properties of covalent compounds

*Simple covalent substances (or simple molecular substances)
usually have low melting and boiling points. This is because
the intermolecular forces between the covalent molecules are
weak and the energy needed to overcome these forces is very
little.

*Many covalent substances are insoluble in water and soluble in

organic solvents.
*Most covalent substances do not conduct electricity in solid,
liquid or gaseous state because they do not have free-moving
ions or electrons to conduct electricity.

The section of giant covalent substances is not covered in these

notes. Please refer to your textbook.