Chemical Bonding



I.  Bond Formation
    A.  Electronegativity:  relative tendency of an atom to attract electrons to itself when it is bonded to another atom.
          1.  Elements are assigned electronegativities based on many experimental tests.
          2.  Electronegativities are influenced by the same factors that affect ionization energies.

       
          3.  It follows the same trend as electron affinity and ionization energy.  It increases across a period and up a group.
          4.  The most active metals (lower left) have lowest electronegativities.  Francium has the lowest electronegativity.
          5.  Non-metals (upper right) have the highest electronegativities.  Flourine has the highest electronegativity of all
               other elements.

    B.  Bond Strength:  a measure of the energy needed to break the bonds between atoms in molecules of a compound.
          1.  The greater the distance in electronegativities, the greater the bond strength.

       

        2.  Example:  Arrange the following elements in order of increasing attraction for electrons in a bond (electronegativity).

                                a.  Sb, F, In, Se                   (In, Sb, Se, F)
                                b.  Fr, Ga, Ge, P, Zn          (Fr, Zn, Ga, Ge, P)

    C.  Bond Character
         1. Difference in electronegativity is high:  electrons are transferred between atoms which form ionic bonds.
         2. Difference in electronegativity is low:  electrons are shared between atoms forming covalent bonds.
         3.  Determining Bond Type
              a.  First, find the electronegativities of both elements.
              b.  Then, find the difference between the two electronegativities.
              c.   Use the chart to determine the % of ionic and covalent character.
           
              d.  Unless the two atoms are identical, (F-F), all bonds have some ionic and covalent characteristics.
              e.  Example:  Determine whether an ionic or covalent bond will form between the atoms for each of the following pairs:

                                    B-P     :      |2.01 - 2.06|  =   0.05            covalent
                                    Be-Si :       |1.47 - 1.74|  =  0.27             covalent
                                    C-Na  :       |2.50 - 1.01|  =  1.49             covalent
                                    Li-O   :       |0.97 - 3.50|  =  2.53             ionic
                                    Mg-N :       |1.23 - 3.07|  =  1.84             ionic

    D.  Ionic Bonds
          1.  Characteristics of Ionic Compounds
               a.  transfer of electrons from one atom to another
               b.  normally a metal and a non-metal
               c.  high melting points
               d.  soluble in water (conduct electricity in solution)
               e.  crystallize as sharply defined particles
         2. Ionic Bond:  electrostatic force that holds two ions together due to their differing charges.

             Example  NaCl

      

    E.  Covalent Bonds
         1.  Characteristics of Covalent Compounds
              a.  Electrons are shared between atoms
              b.  Most are formed between nonmetals.
              c.  low melting points
              d.  They are brittle.
              e.  don't conduct electricity well
 
         2.  Example:   Cl2

         

    F.  Metallic Bonds
         1.  Characteristics of Metallic Bonds
              a.  When metals bond with one another, they don't share or transfer electrons.
              b.  Metal crystals form when atoms crowd together and the outer level orbitals from all those atoms overlap.
              c.  The electrons can move more easily from one atom to the next.  Thus the are called delocalized electrons.
              d.  Metallic bonds are extremely strong.
          2.  Alloys:  metallic materials that consist of 2 or more elements (usually metals).
               a.  Alloys are not true metals.
               b.  They are solid solutions.
                c.  Examples:           Brass -  alloy of copper and zinc
                                                  Steel  -  alloy of iron and carbon
                                                  Bronze - alloy of copper and tin
    G.  Polyatomic Ions
          -- groups of ions bonded covalently but they possess an overall charge just as other ions.

II.  Particle Size
     A.  Ionic Radii
            1.  internuclear distance:  the sum of the radii of two ions in a compound.
            2.  ionic radius:  distance from the nucleus to the outermost electron in an ion.

         

    B.  Covalent Radii
          1.  bond length:  the sum of the covalent radii of both atoms forming a covalent bond.
          2.  Predicting Bond Length
              example:  Predict the length of the bond formed between an atom of arsenic and an atom of sulfur.
                                 You must use a table of values for bond lengths.

                   

                                As  -   covalent radius    120 pm (picometers)
                               S    -   covalent radius     103 pm
                                                                           223 pm