Chemical Bonding Noble gas configuration *Helium (He), neon (Ne) and argon (Ar) are some examples

of the noble gases. They are found in Group 0 of the Periodic Table. *Noble gases exist as individual and discrete (separate) atoms. *Atoms with full shells of electrons are stable. Therefore, an atom is stable if it has a duplet (2 electrons) or an octet (8 electrons) configuration. This is known as the noble gas configuration. *Atoms of all noble gases have full shells of electrons. Hence they are stable and unreactive. For example, helium, He has 2 electrons in its (only) shell. Since the first shell can hold a maximum of 2 electrons only, helium has a stable electronic configuration. Chemical bonding *For atoms of other elements, the outermost shell is incomplete (not fully occupied) and known as the valence (outermost) shell. *Electrons in the valence shell are called the valence electrons. *Hence, these elements react in order to achieve the noble gas configurations. This is made possible by any one of the three ways given below. (i) Losing valence electrons (losing electrons from their valence shell) (ii) Gaining valence electrons (iii) Sharing valence electrons The process of (i) and (ii) by which atoms (which form ions) bond together to form stable compounds is known as ionic bonding. The process of (iii) is known as covalent bonding.

We may understand the concept of ionic bonding by looking at this analogy: An 18 year old boy (analogous to the metal atom) and a 18 year old girl (analogous to the non-metal atom) are dating. The boy gives one dollar (analogous to one electron) out of his outermost part of his pocket from his jeans to the girl. The girl accepts the one dollar (one electron) and they are both very happy. They hold hands and form a stable relationship (analogous to forming a strong relationship or ionic bond). We may understand the concept of covalent bonding by looking at this analogy:
2 girls (2 non-metal atoms) want to buy Magnolia ice-cream, one costing 2 dollars. Each girl has 1 dollar (1 electron). They pool their 1 dollar together, so with the total of 2 dollars, they buy the Magnolia ice-cream and they Share the ice-cream. The 2 girls bond together (2 non-metal atoms bond covalently to form a strong covalent bond) strongly over the ice-cream.

Ionic bonding *Atoms are electrically neutral since numbers of protons and electrons are equal. Neutrons have 0 charge. * When atoms lose or gain electrons from their valence shells, ions are formed. *The ion carries a positive or a negative charge because the numbers of protons and electrons are not equal. *Hence an ion is a charged particle formed by the loss or gain of electrons from an atom [or a group of atoms which you will see later]. *Atoms of metals lose electrons from the outermost shell to

achieve the noble gas structure (duplet or octet structure which you learned earlier). They form positively charged ions called cations. (Remember, there is a t in the word cation, and the letter t looks like a positive sign). *For example, sodium atom has an electronic configuration of 2. 8. 1. It loses one electron from its valence shell to obtain a stable noble gas structure of 2, 8. The resultant sodium ion is (singly) positively charged (+1 charge). Na Na+ + e (e stands for electron)

*Atoms of non-metals tend to gain electrons to fill up the outermost shell and achieve noble gas configuration. They form negatively charged ions called anions (because there are more electrons than protons in the anions). *For example, chlorine atom has a proton number of 17 and its electronic structure is 2. 8. 7. It achieves the electronic configuration of a noble gas by gaining one electron and forms a negatively charged chloride ion. *Cl + e Cl*An ionic bond is formed when metal atom(s) react with non metal atom(s). *For example, sodium combines with chlorine to form sodium chloride, which is an ionic compound. Sodium chloride is made up of positively charged sodium ions (Na+ ions) and the negatively charged chloride ions (Cl-), held together by electrostatic forces (something similar to strong electrical forces) of attraction. *An ionic compound is represented by dot and cross diagrams where dots represent the electrons of one atom and crosses represent the electrons of another atom. *In an ionic compound, the number of positive charges must be equal to the number of negative charges. *For example, in magnesium chloride, magnesium ion

(Mg2+)has two positive charges. Chloride ion (Cl-) has only one negative charge. Therefore, two chloride ions are needed to balance the two positive charges on the magnesium ion. The chemical formula for magnesium chloride MgCl2 Physical properties of ionic compounds *Ionic compounds form giant ionic structures. Ions with opposite charges are strongly attracted to each other and are arranged in a giant lattice structure in an regular and orderly manner. *Forces of attraction between the ions of opposite charges are very strong and a large amount of heat energy is needed to break them up. So most ionic compounds are non-volatile (cannot vaporize into gas easily) and generally have high melting and boiling points. *Ionic compounds are generally soluble in water and insoluble in organic solvents like ethanol. However, some ionic compounds are insoluble in water. You will cover this in Acids, Bases and Salts chapter. *Mobile ions in the ionic compounds conduct electricity. ln the solid state, the ions are not free to move and they do not conduct electricity. When an ionic compound is melted or dissolved in water, it can conduct electricity since the ions are free to move. Next, we proceed to another type of bonding covalent bonding. Covalent bonding *Atoms of non-metals (remember the 2 girls sharing the Magnolia ice-cream?) can bond with each other by sharing their valence electrons to achieve a noble gas configuration. When atoms share their valence electrons, the resulting bond(s) is/are known as covalent bond. *A molecule is a group of two or more atoms held strongly together by covalent bonds. For example by sharing electrons, two hydrogen atoms (2 H atoms) combine to form a hydrogen molecule (one H2 molecule).

*The covalent bond between two atoms can be represented by a dot and cross diagram. *Usually, only the outermost shell is shown in the dot and cross diagrams. Covalent bonds in molecules of ELEMENTS Single covalent bond or single bond *Each hydrogen atom shares one electron with another hydrogen atom to form a hydrogen molecule, H2, and attain the noble gas configuration of helium (He). *When each atom shares one electron to form a bond, the resulting bond is a single bond. So, a single bond is made up of one shared pair of electrons (ie. 1 pair of electrons consists of 2 electrons). *The single bond is represented by the symbol . *For example, the hydrogen molecule is indicated by its structural formula, HH. *Molecules of elements are made up of identical atoms. *Many gaseous elements exist as diatomic molecules. For example, oxygen exists as O2 an nitrogen as N2. Double covalent bond or double bond (formation of oxygen molecule) *An oxygen atom has only six valence electrons and needs two more electrons to complete outermost shell. So each oxygen atom shares two electrons with another oxygen atom to achieve the noble gas configuration of neon (Ne). *When each atom shares two electrons to form a bond, the resultant bond is known as a double bond. Hence, a double bond consists of two shared pairs of electrons. *The double bond is represented by the symbol =. *For example, oxygen molecule is indicated by its structural formula, O = O. Covalent bonds in molecules of COMPOUNDS

*Covalent compounds have molecules made up of two or more different types of atoms held together by strong covalent bonding. Some examples are water (H2O) , carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4). *A water molecule contains two hydrogen atoms and one central oxygen atom linked by covalent bonds. The oxygen atom shares its electrons with two hydrogen atoms so that all the three atoms have noble gas configurations. There are two single covalent bonds in each water molecule. Physical properties of covalent compounds *Simple covalent substances (or simple molecular substances) usually have low melting and boiling points. This is because the intermolecular forces between the covalent molecules are weak and the energy needed to overcome these forces is very little. *Many covalent substances are insoluble in water and soluble in organic solvents. *Most covalent substances do not conduct electricity in solid, liquid or gaseous state because they do not have free-moving ions or electrons to conduct electricity. The section of giant covalent substances is not covered in these notes. Please refer to your textbook.