COVALENT COMPOUNDS

What are Covalent Compounds?

• Covalent compounds are formed • The word ‘covalent’ is made up
when two nonmetal atoms share of the words ‘co’ (share) and
valence electrons to form a ‘valent’ (valence electrons).
covalent bond. Valence electrons
are the atom’s outermost
electrons.
Formation of Covalent Bond
• Elements with extremely high • A covalent Bond refers to such
ionisation energies are incapable an association formed by the
of transferring electrons, while sharing of electron pairs among
elements with extremely low different or similar kind
electron affinity are incapable of
absorbing electrons
Rules for Naming Covalent Compounds
• A binary compound is made up
of only two elements. The
names are referred to as
systematic names.
1.First, identify the element name
of the nonmetal that is farthest to
the left and farthest to the
bottom of the periodic table.
2.Second, use the element name
for the other nonmetal, but
shorten it and add a -ide ending.
3.To indicate the number of
atoms in an element, place
prefixes (mono-, di-, tri-, etc.) in
front of the element name. In
the element formula, the
number prefix corresponds to
the subscript. If there is no
subscript, it means that the
element only has one atom, and
the prefix is “mono-.” However,
in the first element’s name,
leave out the “mono-” prefix.
 Prefixes used for Covalent Compounds
• Greek prefixes are used to name
compounds based on the
elemental subscript, which
specifies the number of atoms
present in the compound.

• We use common names

rather than systematic names
for some simple covalent
compounds.
Number of Atoms in Compounds PREFIXES FOR ELEMENT

1 mono
2 di
3 tri
4 tetra
5 penta
6 hepta
7 hexa
8 octa
9 nona
EXAMPLES
• PCl5 – Phosphorus
pentachloride
• SO2 – Sulphur dioxide
• CO2 – Carbon Dioxide
• N2O5 – Dinitrogen pentoxide
• BrF5 – Bromine pentafluoride
SOLVED EXAMPLES
• 1. Write the names of each
compound-
• a. CO
• b. CF4
• c. CCl4
 SOLUTION
a. Carbon Monoxide
• b. Carbon tetrafluoride
• c. Carbon tetrachloride
WRITE THE NAME OF EACH COMPOUNS
a. H2O
b. CH4
c. NH3
Solution.

• a. Water
• b. Methane
• c. Ammonia
Can compounds contain both covalent and
ionic bonds?
• Yes, compounds can contain
both covalent and ionic bonds.
• For example- Na3PO4 – This
compound is ionic because
sodium is metal and the
phosphate ion is a polyatomic
ion. Polyatomic ions are held
together by covalent bonds, so
this compound contains both
ionic and covalent bonds
Write the molecular formula for each
compound.
• a. chlorine trifluoride • The molecular formula of the
• b. phosphorus pentachloride following compounds are as
follows-
• a. ClF3
• b. PCl5
How do you recognise a covalent compound?
• Covalent compounds are • What are the rules for writing a
typically made up of two or simple covalent compound’s
more nonmetal elements. molecular formula?

• It is similar to an ionic
compound, except that the
element further down and to the
left on the periodic table is listed
first and is named after the
element.
What are the naming conventions for a
simple covalent compound?
• Name the first element first, • If there is more than one atom
followed by the second element, of the first element, use
using the element name’s stem numerical prefixes; always use
plus the suffix -ide. numerical prefixes for the
number of atoms of the second
element.