Types Of Chemical Bonds

Have you ever heard of chemical bonds? There are four main types of chemical bonds: non-polar covalent, polar covalent, and ionic bonds.

Ionic is the most common of the three chemical bonds. Ionic bonds happen between two molecules that are either positively or negatively charged. In this type of bond, electrons are transferred from one atom to the other, which results in the charges. Due to the electrostatic force, they are attracted together and form a compound.

Example: NaCl or salt

Na(Sodium) has a net positive charge of 1, and Cl(Chlorine) has a net negative charge of -1. Na donates an electron to the chlorine atom to create a compound with a net charge of 0.

Covalent bonds can be polar or non-polar, depending on the electronegativity difference between the atoms involved. The non-polar covalent bond is a bond that occurs between two atoms of the same element that share their electrons equally.

Example of Non-Polar Covalent Bond: Hydrogen gas

In the example of hydrogen gas(H2), hydrogen atoms equally share their electrons to fill up their outer shell. The electronegativity values for both hydrogen atoms are the same, so it is a non-polar covalent bond.

The polar covalent bond occurs between atoms of different elements. The polarity of the covalent bond depends on how strongly an atom attracts electrons when it forms a covalent bond leading to an imbalance of electron distribution.

Example of Polar Covalent Bond: Hydrogen Fluoride(HF)

In the example of hydrogen fluoride or HF, we can decide that it is a polar covalent bond because of their electronegativity values. The value for hydrogen is 2.1, while the value for fluoride is 4.0. Because the values differ so significantly, the fluoride atom strongly attracts the electron distribution causing an imbalance in electron distribution. So we can conclude that it is a polar covalent bond.

Chemical bonds are very complex, and many scientists dedicate their careers to research out. In that aspect, it brings our understanding to a higher level though technically, we are talking about the attractions of the matter that is considered the smallest.

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