INTRODUCTION TO MATERIAL SCIENCE: TEC 111 2020/2021

ACADEMIC
YEAR

Lecture Five

Scheduled: Week of 26th October 2020

Learning outcomes
1. Describe the different types of atomic bonding
2. State which materials exhibit each of the bonding types
3. Explain how bonding type determine material properties

Interatomic & Intermolecular Bonding

Introduction

▪ Materials are composed of very large aggregates of atoms

▪ The properties of these materials derive in part from the manner in which the individual
atoms are bonded together and the strengths of these bonds
▪ The bonding which exists between atoms is not the same for all materials because there
are several types of interatomic bonds possible
▪ Bonding involves some degree of interaction between the outer shell or Valence
electron(s)
▪ A completely filled outer shell in an atom confers a very high degree of stability in the
atom
▪ This is the electronic structure of the inert or noble gases
▪ During the formation of interatomic bonds, atoms of elements with incomplete outer
electron shells attempt, in combination with other atoms, to achieve filled outer
electrons shells thus satisfying the condition for stability
▪ Interatomic bonds are classified into primary bonds and secondary bonds

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 INTRODUCTION TO MATERIAL SCIENCE: TEC 111 2020/2021
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Primary Bonds

▪ There are three main types of primary bonds including:

1. Ionic bonds
2. Covalent bond
3. Metallic bond

The Ionic Bond

▪ Ionic bonding is found in compounds that are composed of both metallic and non-
metallic elements
▪ Atoms of a metallic element easily give up their valence electrons to the non-metallic
atoms
▪ In the process, all the atoms acquire stable electronic configurations
▪ Common example of ionic bonding is found in sodium chloride (NaCl)
▪ Sodium atom transfers its valence electron to a chlorine atom
▪ Figure 10 illustrates ionic bonding
▪ Ionic bonding is termed non-directional, i.e. the magnitude of the bond is equal in all
directions around an ion

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 INTRODUCTION TO MATERIAL SCIENCE: TEC 111 2020/2021
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Figure 10: Schematic representation of ionic bonding in sodium chloride (NaCl) (Source:
Callister, W. D. & Rethwisch, D.G., 2007)
▪ Most ionic substances are soluble in polar solvent such as water and in solution the
charge carrying ions have mobility
▪ In an electric field, they will move preferentially constituting an electric current
▪ Ionic conductive solutions are termed as electrolytes
▪ Similarly, when ionic crystalline substances melts, the ions have mobility and molten
salts are electrolytically conductive
▪ Table 4 contains bonding energies and melting temperatures for several ionic materials

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 INTRODUCTION TO MATERIAL SCIENCE: TEC 111 2020/2021
ACADEMIC
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Table 4: Bonding Energies and melting Temperature for various Substances (Source:
Callister, W. D. & Rethwisch, D.G., 2007)

Covalent Bonding
▪ Covalent bonding involves sharing of electrons between adjacent atoms
▪ Two atoms that are covalently bonded will each contribute at least one electron to the
bond, and the shared electrons may be considered to belong to both atoms
▪ Figure 11 illustrates covalent bonding for methane molecule
▪ The carbon atom has four valence electrons, while each of the four hydrogen atoms has
a single valence electron
▪ Each hydrogen atom can acquire a stable electron configuration when the carbon atom
shares with it one electron
▪ In addition, the carbon atom has four additional shared electrons, one from each
hydrogen atom, making a total of eight valence electrons
▪ Covalent bonds are directional; i.e. it is between specific atoms and may exist only in
the direction between one atom and another that participates in the electron sharing

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 INTRODUCTION TO MATERIAL SCIENCE: TEC 111 2020/2021
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Figure 11: Schematic representation of covalent bonding in a molecule of methane (CH 4)

(Source: Callister, W. D. & Rethwisch, D.G., 2007)
▪ Many non-metallic elemental molecules as well as molecules containing dissimilar
atoms are covalently bonded
▪ Covalent bonding is also found in elemental solids such as diamond (carbon), silicon,
and germanium
▪ The number of covalent bonds that is possible for a particular atom is determined by
the number of valence electrons
▪ Covalent bonds are strong, e.g. in diamond, which is very hard and has a very high
melting temperature
▪ Bonding energies and melting temperatures for covalently bonded materials are shown
in Table 4

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Metallic Bonding
▪ Metallic bonding is found in metals and their alloys
▪ Metallic materials have one, two, or at most, three valence electrons
▪ These valence electrons are not bound to any particular atom in the solid and are more
or less free to drift throughout the entire metal
▪ They may be thought of as belonging to the metal as a whole, or forming a “sea of
electrons” or an “electron cloud”
▪ The metallic bonding involves the sharing of outer shell electrons by all atoms to form
a general electron cloud that permeates the entire block i.e. all valence electrons are
shared by all the atoms in the assembly
▪ This cloud provides the attractive forces that hold the atoms together and form a strong,
rigid structure in most cases
▪ The remaining non valence electrons and atomic nuclei form what are called ion cores,
which possess a net positive charge equal in magnitude to the total valence electron
charge per atom
▪ Figure 12 illustrates the metallic bonding
▪ The metallic bond is non-directional
▪ Bonding energies and melting temperatures for several metals are listed in Table 4
▪ Because of extreme mobility of the valence electrons, materials possessing metallic
bonding are good conductors of electricity and heat

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Figure 12: Schematic illustration of metallic bonding (Source: Callister, W. D. &

Rethwisch, D.G., 2007)

Secondary Bonding
▪ Both Van der Waals and hydrogen bonds are termed secondary bonds
▪ They are weak bonds compared to primary bonds
▪ Secondary bonding forces arise from atomic or molecular dipoles
▪ An electric dipole exists whenever there is some separation of positive and negative
portions of an atom or molecule
▪ The bonding results from the coulombic attraction between the positive end of one
dipole and the negative region of an adjacent one, as shown in Figure 13

Figure 13: Schematic illustration of Van der Waals bonding between two dipoles (Source:
Callister, W. D. & Rethwisch, D.G., 2007)
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 INTRODUCTION TO MATERIAL SCIENCE: TEC 111 2020/2021
ACADEMIC
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▪ Secondary bonding exists between virtually all atoms or molecules, but its presence
may be obscured if any of the three primary bonding types is present
▪ Secondary bonds are found in inert gases and in between molecules in molecular
structures that are covalently bonded

TASK

Read about:
1. Hydrogen bonds
2. Mixed bonds
3. Co-ordinate bonds

References:
[1] John Vernon, J. (1992). Introduction to engineering materials. (3rd edn.). London: Macmillan Press
Ltd.
[2] Callister, W. D. & Rethwisch, D.G. (2007). Materials Science and Engineering – An Introduction. (7th
edn.). New York: John Wiley and Sons.

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