TOPIC 4: BONDING

4.2: COVALENT BONDING

 Topic 4: Bonding
4.2: Covalent bonding

Essential Idea: Covalent compounds form by the

sharing of electrons.

Nature of Science:
Looking for trends and discrepancies – compounds that
contain non-metals have different properties from
compounds that contain non-metals. (2.5)
Use theories to explain natural phenomena – Lewis
introduced a class of compounds which share electrons.
Pauling used the idea of electronegativity to explain
unequal sharing of electrons (2.2)
 IB Topic 4: Bonding
4.2: Covalent bonding

Understandings:
1.A covalent bond is formed by the electrostatic attraction
between a shared pair of electrons and the positively
charged nuclei.
2.Single, double, and triple covalent bonds involve one,
two, and three shared pairs of electrons, respectively.
3.Bond length decreases and bond strength increases as
the number of shared electrons increases.
4.Bond polarity results from the difference in
electronegativities of the bonded atoms.
 IB Topic 4: Bonding
4.2: Covalent bonding

Applications and Skills:

1.Deduction of the polar nature of a covalent bond
from electronegativity values
 IB Topic 4: Bonding

Ionic Bond: Transfer of electrons from

metal to non-metal; bond formed by
electrostatic attraction between oppositely
charged ions. E.N. difference >1.8
Covalent Bond: Sharing of electrons
between non-metals
 4.2 U1 Covalent Bond

Covalent bonds occur between nonmetals

since both want to gain electrons. They
share electrons to achieve a noble gas
(stable) configuration (8 valence e-).
 4.2 U1 Covalent Bond

The electrons in the bond are

electrostatically attracted by both
nuclei, so that it forms a directional
bond between the two atoms.
 4.2 U1. Electron sharing

• Covalent bonds occur between nonmetals since both

want to gain electrons. They share electrons to
achieve a stable configuration
• Lewis Dot Diagrams are used to illustrate the sharing
of electrons
• Need 1 electron: H F Cl Br I

• Need 2 electrons: O S Se Te
• Need 3 electrons: N P As
• Need 4 electrons: C Si
(spread out e- if 4)
 4.2 U1. Electron sharing
Key Terms:
Lone pairs: electrons on a dot diagram that are already
paired (also called non-bonding pairs)

Shared pairs (Bonded pair): electrons that are shared

in a covalent bond

Lone pair
H S
Shared pair H
A covalent bond is a chemical bond in which two or more
electrons are shared by two atoms.

Why should two atoms share electrons?

F + F F F
7e- 7e- 8e- 8e-

Lewis structure of F2

single covalent bond lone pairs F F lone pairs

single covalent bond

lone pairs F F lone pairs
 4.2 U2. Bond Types

Single covalent bonds Double covalent

Sharing 1 pair of
bonds
electrons Sharing 2 pair of
electrons
Examples:
H2 H H H H Examples:
O2

HCl H Cl H Cl
H2CO
CCl4
 4.2 U2. Bond Types

Triple covalent bonds

Sharing 3 pair of electrons

Examples:

N2
N N
CH2
Lewis structure of water single covalent bonds

H + O + H H O H or H O H

2e- - 2e-
8e

Double bond – two atoms share two pairs of electrons

O C O or O C O
double bonds double bonds

Triple bond – two atoms share three pairs of electrons

N N or N N
triple bond
triple bond
 Modeling Covalent Bonds
• Molecular model sets: modeling covalent
bonding. Create the 8 molecules listed on
the next slide and complete a data table
similar to the following:
Formula Line Diagram Dot Diagram
(given)
 Modeling Covalent Bonds
• 1 bond = 2 shared electrons
• Red = oxygen
• Black = carbon
• White = hydrogen
• Blue = nitrogen (3 bonding sites + 1 “hat”)
• Green & Silver = halogens
• H2O ● H2
• C2H4 ● O2
• CO2 ● C6H12
• NH3 ● N2
 4.2 U3. Bond lengths and
Strength
Length Strength
The more pairs of nm (kj mol-1)
electrons that are C-O 0.143 356
shared between two
atoms in a bond then C-C 0.154 348
the stronger the bond C=O 0.121 736
and the shorter the C=C 0.134 657
bond length.
C C 0.120 908
 4.2 U3. Bond lengths and
Strength

Bond Lengths
Triple bond < Double Bond < Single Bond
shortest shorter longer
 4.2 U4. Electronegativity

Electronegativity Difference

Nonpolar covalent bonds have electronegativity

difference of 0
Polar covalent bonds have electronegativity
differences above 0 less than or equal to 1.8
Ionic bonds have electronegativity differences
greater than 1.8
Polar covalent bond or polar bond is a covalent bond
with greater electron density around one of the two atoms.
One atom pulls the electron being shared closer, creating
an unequal share. Usually based on electronegativity of
the atoms

electron rich
electron poor
region
region e- poor e- rich

H F
+ -
H F
Classification of bonds by difference in electronegativity

Difference Bond Type

≤ 1.8 Covalent
> 1.8 Ionic
0 (Nonpolar) Pure Covalent
0.1 to less than 1.8 Polar Covalent

Increasing difference in electronegativity

Covalent Polar Covalent Ionic

share e- Unequal sharing of e- transfer e-

Molecular (Covalent) Naming
for two nonmetals

• Prefix System (binary compounds)

1. Less electronegative atom comes first.

2. Add prefixes to indicate # of atoms. Omit

mono- prefix on the 1st element. Mono- is
REQUIRED on the 2nd element.

3. Change the ending of the 2nd element to -ide.

Molecular Naming Prefixes
PREFIX NUMBER
mono- 1
di- 2
tri- 3
tetra- 4
penta- 5
hexa- 6
hepta- 7
octa- 8
nona- 9
deca- 10
ELEMENTS THAT EXIST AS
DIATOMIC MOLECULES
These elements
only exist as
PAIRS. Note that
when they
combine to make
compounds, they
are no longer
elements so they
are no longer in
pairs!
Molecular Naming: Examples

• CCl4
• carbon tetrachloride

• N2O
• dinitrogen monoxide

• SF6
• sulfur hexafluoride
Molecular Formula Examples

• arsenic trichloride
• AsCl3

• dinitrogen pentoxide
• N2O5
• tetraphosphorus decoxide
• P4O10
Practice 1

Fill in the blanks to complete the following names

of covalent compounds.
CO carbon ______oxide
CO2 carbon _______________
PCl3 phosphorus _______chloride
CCl4 carbon ________chloride
N2O _____nitrogen _____oxide
Practice 1

Fill in the blanks to complete the following names

of covalent compounds.
CO carbon monoxide
CO2 carbon dioxide
PCl3 phosphorus trichloride
CCl4 carbon tetrachloride
N2O dinitrogen monoxide
Practice 2
1. P2O5a) phosphorus oxide
b) phosphorus pentoxide
c) diphosphorus pentoxide

2. Cl2O7 a) dichlorine heptoxide

b) dichlorine oxide
c) chlorine heptoxide

3. Cl2 a) chlorine
b) dichlorine
c) dichloride
Learning Check
1. P2O5 a) phosphorus oxide
b) phosphorus pentoxide
c) diphosphorus pentoxide

2. Cl2O7 a) dichlorine heptoxide

b) dichlorine oxide
c) chlorine heptoxide

3. Cl2 a) chlorine
b) dichlorine
c) dichloride
 Covalent Bond Physical
Properties

Covalent Compounds:
•MP: low
•BP: low
•Volatility: may be volatile
•Conductivity: do not conduct electricity
•Solubility: typically insoluble in water
•Form molecules