UCB Civil & Environmental Engineering

Types of Atomic & Molecular Bonds

Paulo J. M. Monteiro
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
University of California: Berkeley
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Types of Atomic & Molecular Bonds

Primary Atomic Bonds

Ionic Bonds
Covalent Bonds
Metallic Bonds
Secondary Atomic & Molecular Bonds
Permanent Dipole Bonds
Fluctuating Dipole Bonds
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Ionic Bonding
Large interatomic forces are created by the
“coulombic” effect produced by positively
and negatively charged ions.
Ionic bonds are “nondirectional”.
nondirectional
The “cation” has a + charge & the “anion” has
the - charge.
The cation is much smaller than the anion.
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Force vs. Separation Distance

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Energy vs. Separation Distance

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Ionic Bonding in Solids

Because the ionic bond is nondirectional the
ions pack together in a solid in ways which
are governed by their relative sizes.
Another important factor is that the ions must
be arranged so that their is local charge
neutrality. [Note the structure of NaCl.]
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Covalent Bonding
Large interatomic forces are created by the sharing of
electrons to form directional bonds.
The atoms have small differences in electronegativity
& close to each other in the periodic table.
The atoms share their outer s and p electrons so that
each atom attains the noble-gas electron
configuration.

H2 Molecule:
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Covalent Bonding in Carbon

A carbon atom can form form sp3 orbitals directed
symmetrically toward the corners of a tetrahedron.
[Note the examples below.]
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Metallic Bonding
Large interatomic forces are created by the sharing
of electrons in a delocalized manner to form strong
nondirectional bonding.
[Note the schematic representation of copper atoms arranged in a
FCC crystal at the left, and the representation of the cloud of
electrons surrounding the positively charged cores.]
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Secondary Atomic & Molecular Bonds

[Van der Waals Bonds]
Permanent Dipole Bonds
• Weak intermolecular bonds are formed between molecules
which possess permanent dipoles.
• A dipole exists in a molecule if there is asymmetry in its
electron density distribution.
Fluctuating Dipole Bonds
• Weak electric dipole bonding can take place among atoms
due to an instantaneous asymmetrical distribution of
electron densities around their nuclei.
• This type of bonding is termed fluctuation since the
electron density is continuously changing.
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Binding Energy & Interatomic Spacing

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Mixed Bonding
Metallic-Covalent Mixed Bonding: The Transition Metals
are an example where dsp bonding orbitals lead to high
melting points.
Ionic-Covalent Mixed Bonding: Many oxides and nitrides
are examples of this kind of bonding. [Values in the table
below were calculated from Pauling Equation (see equ. 2.10 in Smith, p 60)].
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It is convenient for many purposes to regard an

atom in a metal as having a definite size, which
may be defined by the distance between its
center and that of its neighbor.
This distance is that at which the various forces
acting on the atom are in equilibrium.
In a metal, the forces can be considered as
• (a) the attractive forces between electrons & positive
ions,
• (b) the repulsion between the complete electron shells
of the positive ions, &
• (c) the repulsion between the positive ions as a result of
their similar positive charges.
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The Hard Sphere Model

This approach can be called the "hard sphere"

model of an atom, however the radius of an
atom (or ion) determined for a particular
crystal structure is not a real characteristic of
that atom, because when the same atom
appears in different crystal structure it
displays different radii.
The radius of an atom (or ion) can be
determined for a particular metal by using the
dimensions of the unit cell of the crystal
structure it forms.