HOW ATOMS COMBINE

We learned that some atoms tend to give electrons,

while others tend to take electrons. It would seem,
then, that chemical combination would be most likely
to take place between atoms in which electrons could
be given up by one atom and taken up by another.

A compound in which ions exist is said to be ionic or

electrovalent, and the transfer of electrons from one
atom to another which results in the formation of ions
is termed electrovalence.
 THE STRUCTURE OF SOLID
SODIUM CHLORIDE

Chloride
Ions
Sodium
Ions
A Sodium
Chloride is
composed of
These ions are definitely oriented in relation to one another.
If a sodium ion occupies the center of a cube, then a chloride
ion appears in the center of each of the six faces of the cube.
All electrovalent compounds show an orientation of ions
simply break away from the surface of the crystal and pass
into the solution, where they are relatively widely separated
and act as independent units.

“NaCl” should be interpreted not as a molecule of sodium

chloride, but rather as a formula which shows that this
compound is composed of an equal number of sodium and
chloride ions.
SHARING OF ELECTRONS: COVALENCE
Chemical combination may take
place without an actual transfer
of electrons from one atom to
another.

This combination is shown

below by using electronic
symbols for carbon and
hydrogen.

Compounds formed by
sharing process are termed
covalent compounds, and
each pair of shared electrons
is termed a covalent bond.
 The methane molecule, CH, is formed by a sharing of
electrons between one carbon atom and 4 hydrogen atoms.
The black dots represent valence electrons of carbon, and the
red dots are valence electrons of hydrogen atoms.
 Valence electrons is an outer shell electron that is associated with an atom, and
that can participate in the formation of a chemical bond if the outer shell is not closed;
in a single covalent bond, both atoms in the bond contribute one valence electron in
order to form a shared pair.
THE USE OF ELECTRON- DOT
FORMULA
The term electron-dot formula only
valence electrons appear in the
formula.

When atoms combine, the so-called

Octet Rule holds that is, each atom
tends to acquire a completed octet
of electrons in the outer level.
ELECTROVALENT AND COVALENT
COMPOUNDS

ELECTROVALENT COMPOUND
- are formed by complete transfer of electrons
-are made up of ions.
-are heard, crystalline solids e.g. Na CI, Mg CL2

COVALENT COMPOUNDS
- are formed by mutual sharing of electrons
-are made up of molecules
-are usually liquids or gases. E.g. CH4, C2 H6,
NH3