Chemical bonding

Chemical bonding refers to the process by which atoms or ions are held together in molecules or crystals. Chemical bonds are the attractive forces that hold atoms together in the complex structures they form.

Types of Chemical Bonds

There are three primary types of chemical bonds: ionic bonds, covalent bonds, and metallic bonds.

Ionic Bonds

Ionic bonds occur when one atom gives up one or more electrons to another atom. This results in the formation of ions, which are atoms or molecules with a net electric charge due to the loss or gain of one or more electrons. The resulting compound is known as an ionic compound.

Covalent Bonds

Covalent bonds occur when two atoms share one or more pairs of electrons. This type of bond is common in organic compounds, which are compounds that contain carbon atoms. The resulting compound is known as a covalent compound.

Metallic Bonds

Metallic bonds occur between metal atoms. In this type of bond, electrons are shared among a lattice of atoms. This results in the formation of a "sea" of delocalized electrons, which gives metals their unique properties such as conductivity and malleability.

Chemical Bonding Theories

There are several theories that explain how and why chemical bonds form. These include the octet rule, valence bond theory, and molecular orbital theory.

Octet Rule

The octet rule is a chemical rule of thumb that states that atoms of low atomic number tend to combine so that they each have eight electrons in their valence shells, which gives them the same electronic configuration as a noble gas.

Valence Bond Theory

Valence bond theory describes a chemical bond as the overlap of half-filled atomic orbitals. The two atoms share each other's unpaired electron to form a filled orbital to become more stable.

Molecular Orbital Theory

Molecular orbital theory is a method for determining molecular structure in which electrons are not assigned to individual bonds between atoms, but are treated as moving under the influence of the nuclei in the whole molecule.

See Also

• Chemistry
• Physical chemistry
• Quantum chemistry