Chemical Bonding

 When atoms of the same type or different types chemically joined together, it is known as
chemical bonding.
 Atoms bond together so that they can achieve stable electronic configurations of noble gases.
 A chemical bond is a very strong force between the atoms. The bonding depends on the valency
of an atom.
 The valency of an atom is the combining power with other atoms. It is a numerical charge value.
The valency depends on the valence electrons of the atom.
Examples:
 Aluminum has a valency of 3 because each aluminum atom involves 3 electrons
(by losing) when combining with other atoms.
 Chlorine has a valency of 1 because each chlorine atom involves 1 electron (by
gaining or sharing) when combining with other atoms.
 There are two types of chemical bonding:
 Ionic Bonding
 Covalent Bonding

Ionic Bonding

 It is a transfer of electron from one atom to another.

Transfer of Ionic +
electron bonding

L F L F
i
i
Number of
Ionic bonds are electrons gain is
formed between the same as
metals and non- number of
metals. electrons loss

 Metals lose electrons to form positive ions while non-metals gain electrons to form negative ions.
 The chemical bonds between the positive ions and the negative ions are called the IONIC BONDS.
 The ionic bond is very strong electrostatic force between these opposite charged ions.
 The compound containing this bond is called the IONIC COMPOUND.
 Ionic compounds have giant ionic lattice structures which consist of oppositely charged ions
throughout the lattice.
Example: Sodium chloride is made up of sodium ions (positively charged) and chloride ions
(negatively charged) arranged in a regular pattern known as a lattice. The ions are held strongly
by electrostatic forces in the lattice.

Ionic bond (electrostatic force

between positive ion and
negative ion)

Positive ion
+Negative ion

Giant ionic lattice structure of NaCl

  “dot and cross” is a way to demonstrate the electron involvement between metals and
nonmetals.
 The number of electrons gain and loss must be conserved.

Physical Properties of Ionic Compounds:

 The alternate arrangement between the positive and the negative ions in an ionic compound
gives rise to a giant ionic lattice structure.
 The physical properties of ionic compounds which contain the ionic lattice structure are as
follows:
Physical Properties Reason
High melting point and high The electrostatic force between the positive ions and negative ions is
boiling point very strong, so more energy is needed to overcome it.
Conduct electricity only in The ions can move about in molten and in aqueous solution because
molten or in aqueous solution. the giant lattice structure has broken down. Electricity is conducted
when ions move around freely.
In solid state, it cannot In solid state, ions cannot move around freely because they are held
conduct electricity. strongly by the electrostatic force in a giant lattice structure.
 Ionic compounds are generally soluble in water but insoluble in organic solvents.
 In an compound, the bigger the charges on the ions, the stronger the electrostatic force. The
melting point and the boiling point are higher also.
Example: The melting point of magnesium oxide (Mg2+O2-) is higher than sodium chloride (Na+Cl-).

Covalent Bond

 It is the sharing of electrons equally between atoms of non-metals in order to attain the
electronic configuration of a noble gas.
 The chemical bond is called covalent bond. The number of covalent bonds between the elements
depends on the number of pairs of shared electrons. Covalent bonds are
Example: formed between
- Single bond: 1 pair of shared electrons (X – X) nonmetals.
- Double bond: 2 pairs of shared electrons (Y = Y)
 A “dot and cross “is a way to demonstrate the sharing of electrons between non-metals.

Sharing of electrons
Covalent bond
equally

H H H H
can be represented as:
A single line represents a pair
of shared electrons. H H
Physical Properties of Simple Covalent Molecule:

 The simple covalent molecules such as water are attracted by weak intermolecular force
(known as Van der Waals forces) between each other.
 The intermolecular force is overcome easily by heating. Therefore, simple covalent
molecules have relatively low melting point and low boiling point.
 Weak attractive force
(imf between When heat is applied
molecules)
Covalent bond(imf
within the
molecules)

In solid state, the molecules are held by

weak attractive force(or intermolecular The attractive force is overcome easily. The molecules
force imf) between them. are stable to move about the liquid state. Note that only
attractive force is broken, not the covalent bonds.

COVALENT COMPOUNDS
Physical Properties Reason
Low melting and boiling point The attractive force between the molecules is very weak, so less
energy is required to overcome it.
Cannot conduct electricity at any They do not have ions or delocalized electrons which can move about
state to conduct electricity.
 Simple covalent molecules are generally soluble in organic solvents but not in water.