CHM 101:GENERAL CHEMISTRY I

Dr A.O. Majolagbe
Lecture : C19-1

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 Chemical Bonding
• Chemical bonding can be defined as the force of attraction
between two atoms or ions that hold them together as a unit
(compound or molecule). Chemical bonding is of various
types. It can be classified into Major/Strong or Minor/Weak.
• Major Types of Chemical bondings:
There are two major types of bonding, namely Covalent and
Electrovalent bonding. Note that there is no compound that is
100% pure covalent or ionic, hence most compounds are mixture
of both covalent and ionic
o Covalent bonds. Covalent bonding is a common type of
major bonding, in which two or more atoms share valence
electrons more or less equally. The simplest and most
common type is a single bond in which two atoms share two
electrons. Other types include the double bond, the triple
bond Covalent bonds occur between two non-metals.
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o Electrovalent bonds. Ionic bonding is a major type of electrostatic
interaction between atoms with large electronegativity difference. It
involves transferring of electron from more electronegative atom to
a less electronegative atom. Ionic bonding leads to separate positive
and negative ions. Ionic bonds occur between non-metal and a metal
• In this process both atoms usually obtain completed outer orbits. For
example,
• i. Sodium chloride, the single electron in the outer orbit of the
sodium atom is transferred to the outer orbit of the chlorine atom,
completing its outer orbit. This leaves both the sodium and the
chloride atoms with completed outer orbits.
• Ii. electrovalent bonding is found in the magnesium bromide MgBr2
molecule. Here one of the two electrons in the outer orbit of
magnesium is transferred to one bromine atom and the other is
transferred to the other bromine atom. This gives a Mg++ ion and two
Br- ions.
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• Basic characteristics of Ionic products
• High melting and boiling points (due to the strong nature of
the ionic bonds throughout the lattice).
• Ionic compounds are capable of conducting electricity when
molten or in solution.
• An ability to dissolve in polar solvents such as water, whose
partially charged nature leads to an attraction to the
oppositely charged ions in the
• Other types of Chemical bonding
There are other types of chemical bonding gernrally classified
as weak chemical bonds including
i. Coordinate covalent: A coordinate covalent bond is like a
covalent bond with the only difference being that both
electrons in the electron pair come from the same atom. 4
A+:B= A:B
An example is the formation of the ammonium ion, in which
an electron pair on the N atom of NH3 forms a bond with H+.
The new N—H bond is clearly identical to the other N—H
bonds.
Metallic bonding: It is a less mentioned type of bonding. In
this type of bonding, each atom in a metal donates one or
more electrons to a “pool" of electrons that reside between
many metal atoms. It is a strong bonding
Lewis electron dot system and Octet rule: The Lewis symbol,
or Lewis electron-dot system, is a way of representing an
element and its valence electrons. The Lewis symbol provides
information about an element’s bonding behavior.
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• To create a Lewis symbol, we begin by writing the element’s
chemical symbol. This represents the atom’s nucleus and all
core electrons. We then add dots, indicating the valence
electrons around the atom’s symbol. We distribute the valence
electron dots one at a time around the symbol, placing the dots
on all side,. This continues until, if necessary, there are four
separate electrons present. If there are more than four
electrons, you will need to pair the electrons until you account
for all the valence electrons.
These steps helps to write the Lewis symbol for any main-
group element:
• 1. Note its A-group number (1A to 8A), which tells the number
of valence electrons.
• 2. Place one dot at a time on each of the four sides (top, right,
bottom, left) of the element symbol.
• 3. Keep adding dots, pairing them, until all are used up.
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 The Lewis symbol provides information about an element’s
bonding behavior:
• For a metal, the total number of dots is the number of
electrons an atom loses to form a cation.
• For a nonmetal, the number of unpaired dots equals either
the number of electrons an atom gains to form an anion or the
number it shares to form covalent bonds.
Octet Rule
The aim of every element that goes into a reaction is to attain
stability. Atoms attains (stability) noble-gas configurations
through the sharing or transfer of electrons. The tendency of
atoms in molecules to have eight electrons in their valence
shells (two for hydrogen atoms) ie attaining stability is known
as the octet rule.
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• Electronegativity: Electronegativity is a measure of the
attractive force that an atom in a compound exerts on electrons
in a bond. Electronegativity is a tool that you can use in
predicting bond type. There are two trends of electronegativity
values on the periodic tables. In general, electronegativities
increase across the period (going towards the right on the
periodic table excluding the noble gases). The values also
decreases down the group (I e increase towards the top.
• The key to the type of bond formed is the difference in values of
electronegativity. A mostly ionic bond is present when there is a
large. If the difference is zero, the bond is covalent.
• The further apart two elements appear on the periodic table,
the greater the electronegativity difference. Widely separated
elements usually form ionic bonds.
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Electrovalence bond and Lattice energy
Ionic bonding involves the transfer of electrons from one atom to
another. The more electronegative element gains electrons. The
less electronegative element loses electrons. Usually, an ionic
bond forms between a metal and a nonmetal. This results in the
formation of cations and anions.
The formation of ions requires energy. The reaction cannot occur if
there is insufficient energy. The source of the necessary energy is
the lattice energy. The lattice energy is the change in energy that
occurs when an ionic solid is separated into isolated ions in the gas
phase The lattice energy is defined as the energy required to
separate the ions in 1 mol of an ionic solid.
The lattice energy is the change in energy that occurs when an
ionic solid is separated into isolated ions in the gas phase
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• Futher readings

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