Covalent Bonds

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Ionic Bonds

Covalent Bonds

Covalent Bonds

How do you know if it is a covalent bond? A covalent bond is formed when electrons are shared between atoms. Covalent bonds are between non-metals and non-metals or hydrogen and non-metals. They share electrons so that both of them can have a stable octet.

Hydrogen is found at the top of the periodic table and non-metals are to the right of the zigzag line.

Take a look at the Periodic Table

This picture is an example of covalent bonding The yellow dots are the electrons. Both of the hydrogen's start with one electron. When the hydrogen come together they will share their electrons with each other and form a H₂ molecule.

COVALENT BOND ANIMATION
animation drawn by Michelle in Lead GIF Animator

Water Molecule

Picture created in paint by Beth

There are two types of covalent bonds.

non-polar - result when two exact non-metals equally share electrons. The Hydrogen picture above is an example of a non polar bond.
polar - result when two different non-metals share electrons. The picture of the water is an example of of a polar bond.

Naming Covalent Compounds

The names of Covalent Compounds are different from Ionic Compounds. Covalent Compound names include prefixes. These prefixes tell the number of atoms of each element in the compound.

Number of Atoms	Prefix
1	None(not used on 1st element)
2	Di
3	Tri
4	Tetra
5	Penta
6	Hexa
7	Hepta
8	Octa

Formulas	Name
CO₂	Carbon Dioxide
CCL₄	Carbon Tetrachloride
P₂O₅	Diphosphorous Pentaoxide
PBr₃	Phosphorous Tribromide
N₂O	Dinitrogen Monoxide

Covalent Quiz

Chemical Bonding Quiz

For more information on covalent bonds, visit this web site.